PGI not to demolish houses

Sandeep Rana

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, February 7  

After Chandigarh Tribune highlighted the issue, the PGI today took a U-turn and decided not to demolish 40 houses of employees and build a new community centre a year before demolishing the existing one.

The issue of razing the central workshop will taken up at the next Standing Finance Committee meeting. The move has ended the deadlock between the PGI and employees’ unions. The unions were earlier planning to stage a black flag march during Health Minister JP Nadda’s visit to the campus on Saturday.

The decision was taken at a meeting between the PGI Director, Dr Jagat Ram, and the unions. The Director told Chandigarh Tribune, “There was no official order to demolish the houses. The community centre will be razed, but only after a new and better one is built at an appropriate place.”

“We will ensure that there is a common place for the central workshop where the women and child care centre is planned to be built. However, the matter will go to the Standing Finance Committee for a final decision,” he said.

Ashwani Kumar Munjal, president of the PGI Employees’ Union, said, “The PGI has a total of 277 acre. Of this, 136 acre comes under the residential zone, while 141 acre is under the institutional zone. There is no marking between the two. However, now as per the PGI master plan, there will be marking for the two zones. These three structures come under the institutional zone; so they had planned to demolish it.”      

The authorities wanted to pave the way for the construction of a women and child care centre and a geriatrics centre by razing these. 

“There is a temple near the place where the geriatrics centre has been planned. Religious functions are held there almost on a daily basis and loudspeakers are used with impunity. How will old people manage in the geriatrics centre? Today, a marriage of one of our poor employees was held at the community centre. Where will persons like him go if they demolish the community centre?” questioned Munjal.

Deadlock ends

The issue of razing the central workshop will be taken up at the next Standing Finance Committee meeting. The move has ended the deadlock between the PGI and employees’ unions. The unions were earlier planning to stage a black flag march during Health Minister JP Nadda’s visit to the campus on Saturday.