Opposition BJP today strongly protested in the Himachal Pradesh Assembly against the move to "privatise" laboratory services in government hospitals and staged a walkout.
The issue led to heated exchanges during the Question Hour, prompting Health Minister Kaul Singh Thakur to categorically state that it was not privatisation, as the Opposition sought to project.
He said the government had only outsourced medical tests in 23 government hospitals to a private firm in larger interest of patients.
Pandemonium prevailed as BJP members said the minister was trying to mislead the House to oblige a multi-national company and started raising slogans before staging a walkout.
Leader of the Opposition PK Dhumal said the government was ignoring the interest of local youths trained in running private labs to accommodate the MNC, which he feared would charge exorbitant rates.
Thakur, however, sought to allay his apprehension, saying the rates would be on a par with government rates.
To a query on privatisation of state-run hospitals, he said the government had no such intention.
To another question, Chief minister Virbhadra Singh said the condition imposed on contractors to maintain roads for five years after its construction under PMGSY was dissuading them from participating in tendering process, thereby delaying the projects.
He said the state government had taken up the issue with the Centre to relax the norms, but the proposal was rejected.
He said that due to this condition many contractors were not coming forward and works worth Rs 106.95 crore were pending since 2010-11 and previous years as tenders could not be awarded.
The Chief Minister said that the matter has been taken up with the Centre once again.
Dhumal wanted to know if the system of accepting single tender for World Bank projects can also be implemented for PMGSY works, to which Singh said the suggestion can be accepted for action.
