Published 12:42 IST, January 25th 2020
Centre decides to upgrade Bengal hospital, TMC grumble about being kept in dark
Centre decides to upgrade the district hospital in Jalpaiguri. Mamata Banerjee's TMC government complain bitterly of being kept in the dark about the move.
Yet another reason has emerged for the BJP and TMC face-off to intensify in West Bengal. The Centre has recently announced that the district hospital in Jalpaiguri will be upgraded to include a medical college. However, instead of the decision being welcomed by the state government, it was faced with criticism from the TMC who said that the decision should have first been conveyed to them and not the state BJP President Dilip Ghosh. TMC alleged that the Union Health and Family Welfare Minister Harsh Vardhan had written a letter to Ghosh intimating him of the decision before informing the state government.
This decision was announced by the Union Health Minister in a bid to improve the healthcare facilities in North Bengal. However, the TMC was bitter about the move asking how the Centre could have passed such a decision when the district hospital was under the state government. They also said that they had made the decision before the Centre and had sent a proposal to them along similar lines "long back."
TMC ministers bitter over decision
Minister of State for Health Chandrima Bhattacharya slammed this move of the Centre saying that it was out of their jurisdiction to implement a decision pertaining to a district hospital. MLA from Jalpaiguri Gautam Deb called this an "assault on the constitution" and asked how the BJP state President fit into the picture and why he should have been informed about this.
BJP Bengal chief Dilip Ghosh, however, stated that the TMC was bothered because they couldn't claim credit for this decision. He stated that he was informed because he had been constantly appealing to the Union government for the medical college. He also took a dig at West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee saying that if the TMC keeps skipping crucial meetings, how would they be in the loop.
(With Agency Inputs)
Updated 12:42 IST, January 25th 2020