Union minister for food processing industries Harsimrat Kaur Badal today challenged the Congress leaders of the Malwa region to clarify whether they were against establishment of an AIIMS in Bathinda. In a statement here, Mrs Badal said it was condemnable that the Punjab Congress was trying to divide the people on regional lines and ignoring the plight of the people of the Malwa region who were suffering because of lack of quality cancer treatment. Stating that establishment of an institution like AIIMS which could offer specialised cancer treatment was the need of the hour, the Union minister said PCC president Partap Singh Bajwa and Amritsar mp Capt Amarinder Singh would be directly responsible if the project got delayed or was cancelled". Badal said going by the recent statements of Congress leaders, it seemed the party was anti- Malwa. "What else can explain the shrill noises being made against the project despite the fact that the express train taking cancer patients to Bikaner for treatment has acquired the sobriquet of cancer express. Do the Congress leaders want cancer patients of Malwa to die for want of treatment"?
Urging Congress leaders to rise above politics and reflect on the incalculable harm they would cause to the cancer patients of Malwa, Mrs Badal said she had proposed the AIIMS for Bathinda on merit. "My demand is not new. I had made a similar appeal during UPA rule also. The demand was made because people in the Malwa belt do not have easy access to health facilities in direct contrast to a city like Jalandhar which had the highest number of hospitals and doctors in the State. In fact institutions like CMC, DMC and Guru Ramdas Medical College are within 60 km of each other", she added. The Union minister also made it clear that Congress statements of discrimination against other regions did not hold any water. "Three mega food parks which have come up recently are not situated in my constituency. Similarly so many projects including an IIM and a Horticulture institute have been allocated to Amritsar". Urging the Punjab Congress leaders to reflect on their own track record, Mrs Badal said despite the fact that Punjab was represented by seven ministers during UPA rule, the leaders failed to get a single project to Punjab. "Now when prestigious projects including the AIIMS hospital has been cleared for Punjab, the Punjab Congress is trying to scuttle it by engineering a regional divide. They should know that Malwa is part of Punjab and that the project is the need of the hour for the people of this region. Punjab Congress leaders of Malwa should clearly come forward to oppose the project if it is not needed or desist from betraying their own region for petty politics", she added.