Rakhra asks for 15 days to revamp PIMS; no specifics

PATIALA: Facing flak for inefficient and miserable running of the Punjab Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS) in Jalandhar, by a charitable trust that he heads, rural development and panchayati raj minister Surjit Singh Rakhra claimed on Tuesday that ‘everything at PIMS will be fine within 15 days’.

However, he failed to elaborate and did not list any concrete plan for an institute, that has seen regular strikes over the past months due to nonpayment of salaries.

“Don’t worry. All will be well in 15 days. Everything will be fine…” Rakhra replied, when questioned by mediapersons at Punjabi University, Patiala, where he was the chief guest at the All India World Punjabi Conference. “Only fifteen days…” was his repeated reply.

PIMS was allotted to a charitable trust led by Rakhra on a 99-year lease in public private partnership (PPP) mode.

The organization has failed to provide the mandatory infrastructure, it was supposed to have built over the past three years.

Sources said that chief minister Parkash Singh Badal had expressed his displeasure at the state of affairs at a meeting of the steering committee called to discuss the state of affairs at the Punjab Institute of Medical Sciences.

The chief secretary- led five-member steering committee was formed monitor the implementation of the PIMSgovernment pact.