Himachal to develop medical device park on its own: Minister

Shimla: Himachal Pradesh Industry Minister Harshwardhan Chauhan on Wednesday said that if the medical device park in Nalagarh in Solan district was to be developed on the terms of the Central government, the state would not have any benefit.

"The state has taken a major decision and decided to build the medical device park at its own level," Chauhan told the media in an informal interaction here.

He said the park would be built on 66.5 acres, which is 25 per cent of the 265 acres of land acquired for the park. "Apart from this, the remaining land will be given to green industries at market price." He said Rs 30 crore received from the Central government would be returned soon.

In the run to the Assembly elections, the Centre sanctioned a medical devices park, the first in north India, to the state in September 2021 with a grant-in-aid of Rs 100 crore.

Chauhan accused the opposition BJP of "doing politics in the matter of closing the HIMCARE scheme (for cashless treatment) in private hospitals".

"The former Jai Ram Thakur government had empanelled such private hospitals, which did not even have basic facilities, for the HIMCARE scheme. As soon as the government received complaints of fraud in the scheme, the government immediately took action," he said.

Regarding the Ayushman Yojana, he said that the Himachal government's money is also spent on this scheme, as a budget of Rs 85 crore was spent on it, out of which Rs 45 crore was contributed by the Centre and Rs 40 crore by the state government.

On BJP MP Kangana Ranaut's statement on flood relief and restoration work, the minister said: "Kangana is new to politics and she does not know anything about the administrative and governmental system".

"Being a film celebrity, she gives any statement. The Central government gives only that amount of money under disaster, which the state is entitled to. Kangana talking about getting help from the Central government for disaster relief is a childish statement. Every single penny received from the Centre is audited. Yes, it is certain that Kangana will learn politics with time," he added.