Ministers' kin amass grant on nursing colleges, says Oppn

Bhopal, Mar 22 (UNI) The opposition members in the Madhya Pradesh Assembly today alleged that the family members of several state BJP ministers had amassed grant amounting to several crore rupees on running private nursing colleges.

Participating in the discussion on the budgetary demands of Health department for 2007-08, Mr Satyadeo Katare (Cong) alleged that though the private nursing colleges were given permission in 2006, grants at the rate of Rs 50,000 per student were disbursed in 2005 itself without budgetary sanction.

His charge that close family members of Health Minister Ajay Vishnoi and Urban Development Minister Jayant Malaiya were beneficiaries sparked protest from the ruling party members and Speaker Ishwardas Rohani expunged certain remarks.

Mr Katare charged that fund meant for the poor was being disbursed to the kin of ministers and other influential people.

He criticised the government for not taking action against those found guilty of committing irregularities in admission to private medical and dental colleges. Doctors appointed on contract basis should not be allowed to misuse financial powers, he said, adding one Dr B L Agarwal, who was appointed for one year on contract, worked in key posts for many years without any formal appointment letter.

Mr Ramlakhan Sharma (CPI-M) said the government should ensure that the norms fixed by the Medical Council of India and other statutory bodies for running nursing colleges should be strictly adhered to.

Mr Indrajit Kumar (Cong), Mr Vanshmani Prasad Varma(SP) and other opposition members expressed concern that several equipments including X-ray machines were not being operated in health centres in the absence of trained manpower.

Ms Sudha Jain (BJP) complimented the government efforts to reduce maternal mortality by encouraging institutional delivery and higher budget allocation for health care. The new medical college at Sagar would serve the long-felt need of the Bundelkhand region, she added.

UNI