HPF questions PPP agreement for Shillong Medical College

From A Reporter

SHILLONG, April 20: The Hynniewtrep People’s Federation (HPF) has questioned the decision of the State government to sign an agreement under public private partnership (PPP) for the proposed Shillong Medical College.

HPF president Tyngshain Lapang, while speaking to newsmen, said, “We demand the State government to come out clear and clarify the reason behind different decisions taken with regards to the setting up of medical colleges at Shillong and Tura within a month’s time.”

 “We are of the opinion that setting up of the Shillong Medical College under PPP mode will give rise to many problems which will affect the aspiring medical students from the state and region,” T. Lapang said.

On October 19, 2012 the letter of award for setting up the Shillong Medical College to KPC Medical College and Hospital, Jadavpur was issued and the Concessiories Agreement was signed on November 2, 2012.

 HPF president T. Lapang said, “Till today the content of the agreement signed with the KPC is yet to be made public by the government.”

“Shillong Medical College might share the same fate as other projects since many projects taken up by the government under PPP mode were allegedly unsuccessful,” he said.

He said his organization had conducted an inspection after which they were convinced that the project will never kick start soon.

Lapang said, “The contention of the organization is that the state government should implement the same guidelines to both the medical colleges – at Tura and Shillong.”

 “The Shillong Medical College should also be run and funded by the State government,” he said, while also criticizing the government for not calling a public hearing before taking any decision on the matter.