Badal said the state government would provide 200 acres of land free of cost to the Centre for this project. Assuring support and cooperation to the CM, Dr Harshvardhan said the Centre would set up the state-of-the art medical institute in Punjab. He said once the proposal regarding the allotment of land was finalized by Punjab, the Centre would initiate steps to bring the project on the ground.
Raising another issue, CM Badal urged the health minister to expedite release of funds worth Rs 120 crore, already sanctioned by the Centre, for setting up State Cancer Institute at Government Medical College, Amritsar. He also sought intervention of the Union minister to take up the case for increasing the seats for MBBS and PG courses in Punjab’s medical colleges with the Medical Council of India to overcome the shortage of doctors in the state.
Flagging up the issue of drug menace in Punjab, the CM sought the support of Union health ministry in tackling the grave problem engulfing the youth of the state, to set up advance drug de-addiction centres in Punjab state with adequate manpower, logistics and infrastructural backup for detoxification and rehabilitation of drug addicts. Badal sought financial grant of Rs 200 crore to cope up with the crisis due to drug menace.
In another meeting with Union Human Resource Development Minister Mrs. Smriti Zubin Irani, Prakash Singh Badal sought her personal intervention to establish Indian Institute of Management (IIM) and World Class Central University at Amritsar for offering huge opportunities of higher education to the Punjabi youth for their gainful employment.