BAHAWALPUR: Although the mega project of the under-construction Bahawalnagar Medical College could not be completed during the last eight years due to the alleged negligence of the successive governments. However, the MBBS classes may start in the available buildings next year.

The hope of the start of the classes has been given by the newly appointed Project Director Prof Dr Soufia Farrukh, the principal of Quaid-i-Azam Medical College (QAMC) Bahawalpur.

The Bahawalnagar Medical College project costing about Rs1.72bn was announced during the tenure of former chief minister Mian Shehbaz Sharif in 2015.

According to officials of the buildings department, the work should have been completed by June 30, 2017, according to the plan. The doctors’ residences, cafeteria and students hostels have been constructed while the major work of the classrooms is yet to be done.

After the end of PML-N term, the construction work got very slow during the PTI government, causing an inordinate delay in the project.

The caretaker government is also not paying attention to the project. However, the QAMC principal was recently appointed as the project director of the college and she has assured that with some alterations, the existing constructed buildings could be converted into classrooms to start the MBBS classes by next year.

According to the officials of the Development and Planning (P&D) Department, Bahawalpur, since the launch of the project, its estimates were revised 11 times due to the increased cost of construction material and inflation.

A sum of Rs Rs650m was utilised on the construction of doctors’ hostel, cafeteria and other buildings. In July 2023, its revised capital estimate of Rs2.8bn was submitted to the government and the approval from the P&D department was being awaited.

The officials say that the PC-I to use the existing completed building was also sent to the government and further work would be done after receiving the approval which would lead to the launch of first year MBBS classes.

Commissioner Dr Ehtasham Anwar also claims that the medical college’s issue has been taken up with the government and the project would be completed at an earliest.

Published in Dawn, December 1st, 2023