SRINAGAR: The Jammu and Kashmir National Conference (JKNC), the ruling party in the region, has called on the government to investigate delays and alleged mismanagement in the construction of the Government Medical College (GMC) in Handwara. Senior party leaders Choudhary Muhammad Ramzan and Sharief ud Din Shariq, in a joint statement issued from the party’s headquarters at Nawa-e-Subha, raised serious concerns about the project’s progress and its location.
The leaders highlighted that the GMC Handwara project, sanctioned under a central scheme and initiated in 2020, was originally slated to be completed by March 2025. However, they noted that work has been severely hampered by unfavourable reports from the construction site. “The site is prone to seasonal flooding due to its proximity to a river, leading to significant setbacks. Nearly Rs 170 crore spent on the project appears to have gone to waste,” the statement said.
They criticised the decision to situate the project in an area susceptible to flooding, particularly when similar projects under the same scheme in other areas have been completed and are operational. Emphasising the need for urgent corrective measures, the leaders advocated for the relocation of the project to a more suitable site within a six-kilometre radius of the GMC Handwara hospital, as mandated by regulations.
The statement stressed that the project could not be shifted to another district, as it must remain close to the GMC hospital under whose license it was allocated. The leaders urged the government to expedite the relocation process to ensure that academic activities at the college can commence without further delay.
“The government must investigate why such a critical project was initially sited in an unsuitable location and why the pace of construction has been so slow,” Ramzan said, calling for accountability and swift action to rectify the situation.
