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Project report out on latest Mamata venture
The Mamata Banerjee Government seems almost set to build a medical college exclusively for Muslims, close on the heels of declaring a monthly honorarium for imams and promising one minority bhavan in each district.
Though things are at “project report level”, the Government wants to make the decision public before the panchayat elections, which could be preponed by six months to December this year. The Government move comes even as the Calcutta High Court on Friday asked the Government to file an affidavit on the stipend for imams.
The West Bengal University of Health Sciences has prepared a detailed project report and sent it to Principal Secretary (Health) Sanjay Mitra, according to sources. It will be submitted to the CM after she returns from the Capital.
The project report and the intent apart, authorities are not sure about the legality of such a venture, “which is why we will have to depend upon the CM to evolve ways so it does not contradict the laws of the land,” said a senior health department official.
The report has been prepared according to Banerjee's wishes. She “wants to offer better services to the State's minority community, which has always been exploited by the previous Government,” said a TC leader. According to the report, the medical college for Muslims would come up on 50 acres at Rajarhat and cost about Rs 400 crore on a public-private-partnership basis.
The Government also looks forward to get Central assistance for this first-of-its-kind venture, sources said. “Aligarh Muslim University or Jamia Millia are institutions where seats are reserved for Muslims but they are not meant exclusively for the community,” said a senior official. The 500-bed hospital will have 100 seats, 50 per cent of which would be filled according to recommendations, sources said.
Meanwhile, the State Wakf Board has already cleared the first month's payments to the 12 imams in Kolkata while the high court has not yet decided on the BJP's Bengal unit's case challenging the Banerjee's decision to give the monthly honorarium.
The Mamata Banerjee Government seems almost set to build a medical college exclusively for Muslims, close on the heels of declaring a monthly honorarium for imams and promising one minority bhavan in each district.
Though things are at “project report level”, the Government wants to make the decision public before the panchayat elections, which could be preponed by six months to December this year. The Government move comes even as the Calcutta High Court on Friday asked the Government to file an affidavit on the stipend for imams.
The West Bengal University of Health Sciences has prepared a detailed project report and sent it to Principal Secretary (Health) Sanjay Mitra, according to sources. It will be submitted to the CM after she returns from the Capital.
The project report and the intent apart, authorities are not sure about the legality of such a venture, “which is why we will have to depend upon the CM to evolve ways so it does not contradict the laws of the land,” said a senior health department official.
The report has been prepared according to Banerjee's wishes. She “wants to offer better services to the State's minority community, which has always been exploited by the previous Government,” said a TC leader. According to the report, the medical college for Muslims would come up on 50 acres at Rajarhat and cost about Rs 400 crore on a public-private-partnership basis.
The Government also looks forward to get Central assistance for this first-of-its-kind venture, sources said. “Aligarh Muslim University or Jamia Millia are institutions where seats are reserved for Muslims but they are not meant exclusively for the community,” said a senior official. The 500-bed hospital will have 100 seats, 50 per cent of which would be filled according to recommendations, sources said.
Meanwhile, the State Wakf Board has already cleared the first month's payments to the 12 imams in Kolkata while the high court has not yet decided on the BJP's Bengal unit's case challenging the Banerjee's decision to give the monthly honorarium.
