Punjab health minister Balbir Singh, LoP exchange barbs over non-operational oxygen plant

CHANDIGARH: Punjab health minister Balbir Singh and leader of opposition Partap Singh Bajwa exchanged jibes over a non-operational oxygen generation plant in Dhariwal, with the former terming the project a 'white elephant' and the latter calling the remarks "most unfortunate".

Responding to a question by Bajwa on the first day of the two-day special assembly session, the minister said the plant would start supplying oxygen by March and it was one among the 41 "such white elephants" in the state, set up during the Covid pandemic.

Bajwa, Congress legislator from Qadian, said as a Rajya Sabha MP at that time, he had arranged Rs 1.18 crore for the plant, and the amount had been released in May 2021. He sought to know when the plant would be operational. Answering that, the health minister said, "This is correct that it cost Rs 1.1 crore to set up the oxygen plant. There was a change of govt, but it did not start functioning. I got it inquired and learnt that a stabiliser was needed to run it. The stabiliser tender will open on Feb 25, and the plant will be made operational by March."

On this, Bajwa said the stabiliser cost was Rs 5 lakh and that amount could have been used from Rs 9 lakh left after spending Rs 1.1 crore on the plant. He claimed to have gathered from the deputy commissioner, that the plant machinery had been stolen for want of a guard. Then he said: "Who knows when the pandemic returns?"

Speaker Kultar Singh Sandhwan talked about a similar plant in Faridkot district, asking the health minister to fix accountability for "dereliction of duty". The minister responded: "There are 41 such white elephants across the state. There is one in Gurdaspur which is also not functional. It is a story from when the state had a Congress govt. There are many such white elephants. Earlier, there were suvidha kendras which we turned into mohalla clinics. I will make it operational, but the oxygen purity in these plants is 94 to 95%. On the other hand, the purity of liquid medical oxygen is 99 or even 100%. It is not a wise to run such plants."

The minister then took a poetic potshot at Congress: "Yun to hamein maaloom hai Congress raj ki haqeeqat, par dil ke behlaane ko Ghalib khyaal acchca hai." Bajwa, referring to "some poet," said: "Barbaad-e-gulistan karne ko, bas ek hi ullu kaafi hai, har shaakh pe ullu baitha hai, anjaam-e-gulistan kya hoga. There could not be a more unfortunate statement from the health minister First, money is demanded, and now it is said that there is no need for the plant. It was your health corporation trean that demanded the money. We are not technical people. I gave the money.."