Hospital land encroached! Delay in taking action in the case raises eyebrows on the administration

Hospital land encroached! Delay in taking action in the case raises eyebrows on the administration

POONCH TODAY NEWS

POONCH: It’s a hard-core fact that a large chunk of land belonging to Raja Sukhdev Singh Hospital is encroached, but the delay in taking action in the case against those involved raises eyebrows about the administration’s intentions.

A few weeks ago, a nine-member revenue commission constituted by Tehsildar Haveli, vide his no. TH/HQ/2661 dated 16-02-2023, visited the premises of Raja Sukhdev Singh Hospital on 17-02-2023 and conducted an investigation into the matter, but what happened afterwards is still a mystery. The question is why those CMOs and Medical Superintendents who remained posted here earlier never raised the issue of encroachment on hospital land with the government.  But acting swiftly, the Medical Superintendent currently on the chair, approached the revenue department vide his no RSS/DHP/5153-56 dated 15-02-2023 and sought demarcation of district hospital Poonch. Some renowned citizens of Poonch, while sharing their views with “POONCH TODAY” said that Raja Sukhdev Singh gave more than 60 kanals of land to the hospital, but a few revenue officials are saying that the land was nearly 52 kanals and 5 marlas. What is the real truth behind the curtains? It’s the duty of the government to present a true picture in the public domain. But as far as removing encroachments is concerned, the government has yet to start an exercise to solve this issue once and for all, and there are reports that those who are involved in encroachment on hospital land have been trying various things to throw the matter behind closed doors by approaching those at the helm of affairs. It is important to mention here that the credibility of the administration is very poor in the eyes of the common man on account of untruthfulness in many developmental issues, including giving NOC to various big projects at different places in a planned way by violating all rules. People are raising their apprehension that nobody will take action on the issue of hospital encroachment. If such public concerns are true, then it would give a big dent to the reputation of the J&K UT administration. The Poonch administration never took action on various big blunders due to reportedly various types of influences. Even some projects were given permission near forest land and river bodies, and it shows that those sitting at the helm of affairs have only one target, and that is to grind their own axe at the cost of brazen violations of government rules. Raja Sukhdev Singh Hospital is the premier health institution of the district, and if the government fails to retrieve encroached land, then it will raise the morale of encroachers in addition to decreasing faith among the people in the institution of governance. A high-level inquiry is needed from the government to address the issue in the public interest.