Tamil Nadu - Salem   

Contractors told to complete hospital projects on time

Photo: P. Goutham

Improving infrastructure: Agriculture Minister Veerapandi S.Arumugam inspecting construction work at the super-speciality hospital in Salem on Thursday. (From right) Collector J. Chandrakumar and Dean V.Kanakasabai, Salem Medical College Hospital are in the picture. —

SALEM: Agriculture Minister Veerapandi S. Arumugam on Thursday inspected the construction works of super speciality hospital and the new integrated multi-storied Collectorate complex.

Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi would declare open these two new buildings besides buildings for SP and Police Commissionerate offices on August 20.

Accompanied by Collector J. Chandrakumar and Dean of Salem Medical College Hospital, the Minister went round the sites where massive buildings were coming up on sprawling sites and made a few suggestions to the contractors.

He also studied the documents and asked them to complete the projects on time. The Rs. 139-crore super speciality hospital on the lines of All India Institute of Medical Sciences, with State and Centre allocations was almost over.

The Minister asked the officials to widen the 60 feet road in front of the hospital to 100 feet.

He also said that the road near the new Collectorate would be widened from the present 40 feet to 80 feet to ease the flow of traffic.

The Collectorate was coming up at a cost of Rs. 27 crore.

The Minister said that though the cost had escalated due to increases in prices of cement and steel, the government had agreed to pay and asked the administration to go ahead with its works. He said that all works should be completed on time.

Mayor J. Rekha Priyadarshini, PWD Executive Engineer Mohanraj and others were also present during his inspection.

Reiterating his charges that it was the previous AIADMK regime which had refused to provide the sugarcane farmers the ‘fair and remunerative’ prices, the State Agriculture Minister Veerapandi S. Arumugam accused the opposition party of suppressing the facts and ‘politicising’ the issue of sugarcane to mislead the farmers.

Talking to the media here on Thursday, the Minister pointed out that it was the DMK government which had increased the price to Rs. 1,555.

“Farmers in Dharmapuri district and in few other pockets in the State also receive Rs. 1,750 with 9.5 per cent extraction,” he pointed out.

He said that when 19 farmers in Delta region committed suicides during the period of drought in 2004-2005, the then AIADMK government declared their deaths due to ‘natural causes’ and even refused to provide their families compensation.

Drawing attention to the Chief Minister’s detailed clarification on the sugarcane price issue and alleged shortage of sugar, Mr. Arumugam claimed that farming community would not fall prey to such ‘mischievous’ campaign of AIADMK, which was preparing ground for the forthcoming Assembly polls.

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