Rajasthan: Centre and state government divided over Alwar ESIC medical college

Jaipur: The Employee State Insurance Corporation (ESIC) built Rs 800 crore college and hospital in Alwar has become a bone of contention between the State Government and the Centre. The differences between the two centering around- medical seat sharing ratio and profit sharing percentage, devised by the by the Union Ministry for Labour and Employment.

The government has submitted its difference of opinion in the form of objections and asked for a reconsideration of clauses under which the state government would like to transfer the building and administration of the medical college.

The Centre's objection call for an equal distribution of seats between the state and itself, implying a 50% share for each. According to this clause, the Centre’s 50% seat divide would see a distribution of-35% for children of workers and labourers of ESIC and the remaining 15% going to the Central pool. The other 50% is to be the share of the Rajasthan government.

The state government has come down heavily on this distribution, by not mincing words to the Ministry .In its letter to it the state authorities clearly mention that a facility as large as Alwar would call for a recurring expense of Rs. 100 crore every year. It further notes, that the state government would find it impossible to carry the burden of expenditure,as mammoth as this, by itself. The Rajasthan government also made it amply clear that public hospitals rarely make any profits, so if the Centre wanted to partake in its profits, would it be willing to bear its losses? The state authorities are are also believed to have denied reserving 50% of seats for ESCI and the central pool.

Rajasthan has taken a firm decision of not bowing to the Centre and standing firm for its fair share in the agreement between the two. Meanwhile, the Alwar health hub is to be administered by the state government was made emphatically clear by the Union Minister for Labour and Employment (independent charge), Bandaru Dattatreya ,while on a visit to Jaipur in May.