Agartala, Oct 6 (PTI) Senior Congress MLA Sudip Roy Barman on Sunday alleged that Tripura Chief Minister Manik Saha was set to hand over 28 acres of land to a private hospital for establishing a super-specialty medical establishment by bypassing the council of ministers.
Hours after he levelled the allegation, Tourism Minister Sushanta Chowdhury dismissed the charges.
“The chief minister, without the consent of the cabinet, is all set to hand over 28 acres of land to an Imphal-based private hospital — Shija Hospitals and Research Institute (SHRI) — in West Tripura’s Bodhjungnagar area.
“The state Animal Resource Development Department, which owns the land, has already issued no objection certificate against the plot. Now, the matter is under district magistrate’s consideration for allotment to the private hospital,” the Congress MLA claimed at a press conference.
He sought to know whether the government had floated any tender in this regard.
“It seems the chief minister has chosen to ‘hand-pick’ the private organisation to hand over the land for setting up the hospital. This is glaring irregularity and cannot be tolerated. If situation arises, I will file public interest litigation against the move,” he said.
Chowdhury dismissed the charge levelled against the chief minister.
“The matter of handing over the land to the private hospital has not reached the cabinet yet because it requires following proper procedure. The ARD Department has issued an NOC and referred the matter to the district magistrate, who will send the matter to the Revenue Department. Therefore, the question of bypassing the cabinet doesn’t arise,” he said.
Claiming that the Congress MLA has been trying to tarnish the image of the chief minister by leveling baseless allegations, Chowdhury said Shija Hospitals and Research Institute (SHRI) has already promised to invest Rs 9,000 crore by setting up a multi-specialty hospital in the state.
“Tripura needs investment from outside the state for growth. The government is ready to provide land to any party if they want to invest in the northeastern state, be it in healthcare or education. The process will be done as per the government guidelines,” he said. PTI PS ACD
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