Sivasagar, May 13: Assam chief minister Sarbananda Sonowal and Union minister for petroleum and natural gas Dharmendra Pradhan today blamed the erstwhile UPA government for the delay in setting up of the Rajiv Gandhi Institute of Petroleum Technology and a super-speciality ONGC hospital.
They were speaking at the bhumi puja (land worship) for the institute and the hospital at Rajabari, around 15km from here. The construction of the hospital began today.
The foundation stone of the institute was laid by former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in February 2011 but no work was done in the last six years. That of the ONGC hospital was laid by former petroleum minister Veerappa Moily in November 2013 but no land was allotted.
Sonowal and Pradhan accused Singh of making false promises to the people of Assam.
The chief minister said, "Dr Singh was a member of Parliament from Assam. He should not have done that." He said the people of Sivasagar and Upper Assam voted for the Congress for 15 years but it did not ensure their development.
Pradhan said, "For the last three years, Jorhat MP Kamakhya Prasad Tasa regularly knocked on my door and asked for construction of the institute but I could not find any file in the ministry. I found that Manmohan ji had laid the foundation stone in the name of Rajiv Gandhi but no funds were allotted." He said construction of the hospital has begun after an allocation of Rs 100 crore for the first phase.
ONGC chief managing director D.K. Saraf said the company had acquired the land and given Rs 100 crore for the hospital.
The total budget for the 300-bed hospital is Rs 300 crore. It will get 150 beds in the first phase. On completion of work, it will be run by a Gujarat-based organisation, Dr Babasahab Ambedkar Vaidyakia Pratisthan.
The construction of the institute will begin next week, with an allocation of Rs 40 crore for the first phase. The total cost is Rs 235 crore.
Sivasagar Congress MLA and former minister Pranab Gogoi could not be contacted over the phone.
Dibrugarh MP Rameswar Teli was also present at the bhumi puja.
