BATHINDA: Union food processing industry minister Harsimrat Kaur Badal and her husband's cousin, Punjab finance minister Manpreet Singh Badal, again got into a verbal duel on Saturday over clearances for the proposed All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) in Bathinda . The duo blamed each other for delays in the construction of the premier medical institute.Harsimrat said the Congress government of Punjab, especially Bathinda Urban MLA Manpreet, had been intentionally delaying the project's construction, so that the SAD-BJP alliance at Centre could not take credit for the project in the 2019 parliamentary elections. On the other hand, Manpreet termed it a "politically motivated allegation" and said it was an entirely Centre-funded project.On August 3, Union health minister J P Nadda wrote a letter to Punjab chief minister Amarinder Singh to accord environment clearances for laying high-tension electricity lines, changing the route of water and clear some other issues for the AIIMS. As per communication, the state government has to spend Rs 14 core on some works.Responding to Nadda's letter, Manpreet told media in Bathinda on Saturday the entire project was that of the Union government. "Punjab does not have to spend a penny on it. We only had to provide the land, which we did. The issue is being unnecessarily raised for political gains. The Union government had not applied for some clearances. How can the state government give clearances without these being applied for? If these had been applied for, the state government would have accorded the clearances. Permission for change of land use (CLU) is yet to be granted, but the Union government has to deposit money with local municipal authorities for that," he said. On the other hand, Harsimrat said Manpreet was misleading Punjabis by asserting that the Union health ministry was legally bound to pay for permissions, including CLU charges, whereas the truth was that the Punjab government had signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU), committing to bear the cost of all statutory clearances and infrastructure for AIIMS.In a statement released in Bathinda on Saturday, Harsimrat said it was inconceivable that the Punjab finance minister did not have knowledge of the MoU signed between the state and the Union ministry of health and family welfare with regard to AIIMS.

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