PUNE: Five years ago, elected members in the Pune Municipal Corporation announced the setting up of the Bharat Ratna Atal Bihari Vajpayee Medical College. At the time, they had said it would be run by the corporation (via a trust) to ensure affordable healthcare.
But on Monday, the PMC — where the BJP holds majority — decided to team up with private players to run the facility, as a public-private partnership.
The PPP plan, tabled on the last day of the elected body's tenure, has come under fire from the opposition and activists. “Involving private players will mainly lead to misuse of public money. It will not stop out-of-pocket expenses for the needy,” Dr Sanjay Dabhade, a healthcare activist, said.
As per PMC’s estimates, nearly Rs 800 crore will be needed to set up the medical college. And Rs 250 crore may be needed annually for operations. “The civic body will not be able to bear the financial burden of the expenses. This is why the decision to rope in private players was made,” said PMC commissioner Vikram Kumar.
Aba Bagul, member of Congress in the PMC, said the PPP proposal is wrong.
“When it was announced, they said it would be a corporation-run college. But by adopting the PPP model, the BJP has changed its stand. Essentially, the initial claim of starting a civic-run medical college is no longer true.”
Siddharth Dhende, a corporator and medical practitioner, countered: “Running a medical college is not the responsibility of the municipal corporation. The PMC is starting this project just to fulfil the demands of a few people. Its focus should be providing quality primary education, which is the main mandate of the PMC.”
Kumar attempted to allay fears of high treatment costs at the proposed institute. “The PMC will have the right to finalise admission fees and cost of treatments. So the PPP model will not harm the original intent behind the college,” he said.
According to the PMC’s plan, the building for the new medical college will come up on the premises of Naidu Hospital. A temporary arrangement has been made at the Baburao Sanas School for conducting classes. And practical training will be given at the Kamala Nehru Hospital at Mangalwar Peth.
Recruitment of staff is already under way.
