PANJIM, FEB 3
The Goa Assembly on Wednesday witnessed noisy scenes as the Opposition along with Aldona MLA Dayanand Narvekar refused to buy justification offered by Health Minister Vishwajit Rane and rushed to the Well of the House shouting slogans over public-private partnership of Mapusa district hospital.
Repeated warnings by Speaker Pratapsing Rane to maintain discipline went unheard as protests continued forcing the House to be adjourned till 2.30 pm.
The BJP took on the Health Minister during Question Hour over his plans to run the new district hospital in Mapusa on PPP mode.
The question on the status of Mapusa hospital which has been ready since 2008 was raised by Mapusa MLA Francis D’Souza.
The justification and subsequent declaration by the Health Minister that “he has no personal interest” in running the hospital on PPP mode did not cut ice with the Opposition.
He said, the PPP mode was for efficient functioning of the hospital and clarified that all services available at old Asilo Hospital would continue in the new hospital without burdening the patients.
Claiming transparency, the Health Minister said “the PPP mode was yet to be finalized although a consultant had been appointed for suggestions”. He said a monitoring committee has also been appointed by the Government which will decide the PPP mode.
At this point, Opposition Leader Manohar Parrikar pointed out that a minister cannot become the chairman of the committee saying it was a procedural lapse as per Central Vigilance Commission guidelines.
“You will get into trouble”, warned Parrikar also highlighting that PPP documents were not vetted by the Law Department.
Instead of offering any logical explanation, the Health Minister accused the Opposition Leader of sensationalising the issue.
Intervening, the Aldona MLA also caught the Health Minister on the wrong foot questioning how the Government could float a Request for Qualification (RFQ) for running the hospital if PPP mode was not finalised.
He said the minister was lying and rushed to the Well of the House with a copy of RFQ published by the Government in a newspaper.
What followed was chaos where on one side Health Minister tried to make his point while Narvekar refused to accept the minister’s explanation. The Opposition which had doubted Rane’s intentions over the PPP, also followed suit.
