Putting an end to speculation, UT administration has decided to scrap the controversial Medicity project and come up with a 300-bed government-run hospital in the southern sectors instead.
Having burnt its hands in finalizing Medicity on public-private partnership model, which had led to a controversy over fixation of the reserve price of 45 acre prime land near Manimajra, the proposed hospital will now be built and run by UT itself.
At a meeting convened by UT adviser Pradip Mehra and attended by home secretary Ram Niwas on Wednesday, it was decided to set up a committee headed by director-principal of Government Medical College and Hospital, Sector 32, Dr Raj Bahadur, with director health services Dr Chander Mohan and three other experts as members.
After identifying a suitable piece of land for the project, the committee will work out details like the kind of super-specialty services to be provided at the hospital, which would cater to a large population in the newly established sectors.
For instance, as part of the ambitious plans finalized for the proposed Medicity, it was planned to provide helicopter evacuation and telemedicine in the super-specialty hospital-cum-recuperation centre. It was to specifically cater to foreigners and NRIs and offer them comfortable ambience to recuperate after undergoing surgery or treatment at the main hospital.
The Medicity was to have several firsts in the region like a terminal care centre to provide palliative care to terminally ill patients. As of now, there is no such facility.
The Medicity was to focus on region-specific diseases, which have high incidence in Chandigarh and adjoining areas of Punjab and Haryana. A research centre for tackling ailments like thalassemia and sickle cell anaemia, which are associated with this part of the country, was also planned.
The centre was also to provide pre-marital counseling to couples to avoid spread of diseases that travel genetically.
The project was to have strategic tie-ups with hospitals in Europe and America for placement of its nursing students. As part of a quality nursing education programme, 300 female nurses were to be trained free of cost every year.
The Controversy
Medicity hit a roadblock in 2008 when UT adviser Pradip Mehra raised a storm by questioning the 'exceptionally low' reserve price of land for it. He said the land was proposed to be given away at a meagre Rs 203.70 crore as the upfront fee, which, as compared to his estimates, was close to Rs 2,000 crore. This is the reason the project continued to exist only on paper even though it had been cleared by CVC
Same Fate
Other projects finalized in PPP model
Multimedia-cum-Film City, Amusement-cum-Theme Park - have also been scrapped. The only venture to materialize, Education City, too has failed to attract companies due to 'stringent' allotment rules
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