At the meeting of the UT Administrator Advisory Council at Hotel Mountview in Chandigarh on Wednesday. (Express photo)
LOCAL MP Kirron Kher criticised the decision to hike parking fees and also opposed the concept of Metro rail project during the meeting of the UT Administrator Advisory Council at Hotel Mountview on Wednesday.
Former MP and Congress leader Pawan Kumar Bansal, Ex-MP and senior BJP leader Satya Pal Jain, along with other dignitaries were also present at the meeting. Both Jain and Bansal were in favour of the Metro rail project.
Pawan Kumar Bansal is head of the environment advisory committee. Incidentally, the suggestion of Director Health Services, G Dewan, to introduce PPP mode and NGOs in health services was strongly opposed by Bansal. “I feel there is a hidden agenda to promote certain NGOs and some RSS-affiliated associations by involving them in the functioning of government dispensaries. Instead of involving other entities in health services, we should upgrade our existing health infrastructure,” he asserted.
Sources present at the meeting said, “Though the increased parking fee was not on the agenda, Kirron Kher spoke on it and stated that increased parking fee charges should be reversed. She also criticised the proposal for Metro rail but Pawan Kumar Bansal advocated the project. Satya Pal Jain, too, supported the concept of Metro rail.”
Bansal said, “MP Kirron Kher is worried about the cost of the Metro project. But it is clear that more than half the cost of the Metro project will be borne by Punjab, Haryana and the central government. Metro is not only for Chandigarh. It will connect Mohali and Pacnhkula and follow the Tricity project.” Commenting on Kher’s stand on increased parking fees, Bansal said Kher only took that stand when the opposition parties took to the streets.
Satya Pal Jain said, “Though local MP Kirron Kher is against Metro, I was advocating it in view of interests of common residents of not only Chandigarh but of Punjab, Haryana and Himachal also. I even suggested the construction of at least five flyovers in Chandigarh. On law and order, I suggested that police officers should hold more and more meetings with the general public.”
A senior UT Administration official told Chandigarh Newsline, “UT Administrator V P Singh Bandore listened to all the views passionately and suggested that to make the transport modes more effective, these points will be considered in the upcoming meetings of the transport department.”
Adviser to Administrator, Parimal Rai, Home Secretary Anurag Aggarwal, DGP Tajender Singh Luthra and other officers were also present at the meeting.
Members of all nine advisory committees, including health, traffic, education, environment, sports, urban infrastructure, sports, law and order, and urban planning and heritage protection committee were present.
Later, in a detailed press statement, Kher stressed the need to introduce the old concept of starting OPDs in two shifts at government hospitals and dispensaries. She also emphasised that the charge of 20 government dispensaries, which are under the Municipal Corporation, be handed over to the UT health department.
Harmohan Dhawan, head of the health advisory committee, and Maj Gen (Retd) M S Kandal, member of the UT education advisory committee, were absent. A senior official said that while Kandal had given prior intimation about his non-availability citing health reasons, there was no communication from Dhawan.