‘Don't have Rs 16 crore for PGI, but Rs 37 crore for ads’: Raja Warring targets AAP govt

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, August 3

Punjab Congress president Amarinder Singh Raja Warring on Wednesday said the Aam Aadmi Party government in Punjab should hang its head in shame over refusal to admit patients from Punjab by the PGI Chandigarh as the state had failed to clear Rs 16 crore overdue for last seven months.

The Bharatiya Janata Party, too, lashed out at the AAP government in Punjab for its failure to provide basic healthcare to people for lack of money.

"Any government would feel sorry over such situations that you lose trust of institutes like PGI for chronic default that it has refused to admit patients," he said, while remarking, "it is shameful on part of the AAP government in Punjab that it could afford to splurge Rs 37 crore on advertisements in first three months, but could not pay Rs 16 crore to the PGI for treatment of patients".

"This is the symptom of complete collapse of the system," he said, while pointing out how the health department was going from bad to worse. Not only has the AAP government defaulted on payments, it is losing confidence of the staff and also not able to supply medicines to hospitals.

"Medical care along with education was supposed to be your flagship programmes and you have miserably failed on both," Warring pointed out, while remarking, "Patients are refused treatment in hospitals. Hospitals are without medicines. Schools are without teachers and students are without books and this is the great change (badlaav) the AAP had promised."

State BJP general secretary Subash Sharma said, "Instead of spending hundreds of crores of rupees in other states like Himachal Pradesh and Gujarat, the AAP government should have spent money on paying dues to various hospitals who are now refusing to admit patients."

In a statement, the BJP leader said it was shocking and shameful for Punjab that the PGI Chandigarh was refusing to admit patients as the Punjab government had failed to clear the dues.

Sharma said even other major hospitals, both in government as well as private sector, had stopped treating patients from Punjab since payments were due for last seven months and the state government had defaulted.

The BJP leader added that it was unfortunate that due to gross incompetence of the AAP government, people of Punjab were not getting the benefit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Ayushman Bharat scheme.

He urged the Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann to set his house in order and instead of splurging funds on advertisements to fight elections in Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh, better take care of the health of Punjabis who are not able to get treatment in any hospital including the PGI Chandigarh.

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