The scheme also announced that operation of civil hospitals in these places would be given to private agencies or trusts, says AAP leader
The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has accused BJP leader and minister of state for health Shankar Chaudhary of land grab under the guise of a Public Private Partnership (PPP) scheme initiated by the state government to manage civil hospitals.
Addressing reporters, AAP leader from north Gujarat Bhema Chaudhary said Banas Dairy, headed by Chaudhary, formed Golbabhai Nanjibhai Patel Trust on January 11, 2016.
"Shankar Chaudhary anointed himself president of the trust and made several BJP and Congress MLAs trustees and members. On June 2, 2017, the health department announced a brownfield scheme to open self-financed medical colleges in Palanpur, Amreli, and Vyara, among others. The scheme also announced that operation of civil hospitals in these places would be given to private agencies or trusts," the AAP leader said.
The health department through the Palanpur Civil Hospital, which will be associated with the planned medical college at Palanpur, approached the Banaskantha collector, seeking land for setting up the college. The collector issued an order allotting the land on July 3.
Chaudhary said the land was transferred to the trust by the health department which is under Shankar Chaudhary on July 5 itself for a Re1 token, and alleged that "the deal smacked of conflict of interest", and accused the minister of being guilty of using his office for profit.
The agreement allows the trust to have the land for 33 years and carry out commercial activities on it, he claimed.
"The trust belongs to the BJP leader, the department (health) which came up with the scheme was under him. Isn't it obvious that all this was done by him to grab government land under the guise of the PPP model," he said.
Shankar Chaudhary could not be contacted for a comment.
Alleging that this was one of the many instances of BJP leaders misusing their position to grab government land, Chaudhary said AAP would carry out an agitation to get the land back from the trust.
Banaskantha collector Dilipkumar Rana when contacted said the collectorate had allotted the land to the health department.
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