BATHINDA: Nearly two years after Prime Minister Narendra Modi laid the foundation stone of the proposed All-India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) in Bathinda , Union food-processing industry minister Harsimrat Kaur Badal performed the ground-breaking ceremony here on Friday to symbolize the start of construction of the institute’s building, even though the Rs 925-crore project is yet to get an environmental clearance.At the event, which was not attended by anyone from the state government and turned out to be an entirely SAD-BJP show, Harsimrat said CM Amarinder Singh’s Congress government in Punjab had intentionally delayed clearances for the project. “I will hold protests to ensure construction is not stopped for want of environmental clearance,” she said.Harsimrat said it was disheartening to see even the Bathinda deputy commissioner staying away from the ceremony.Giving credence to claims of delay on part of the state government, Union health ministry joint secretary Sunil Sharma said clearances had been delayed by at least three months, but they would try to cover up for the time lost by speeding up construction.Modi laid the institute’s foundation stone on November 25, 2016. He had claimed that it would be completed by 2020.Harsimrat said though the project had been delayed due to delays in clearances by the Punjab government, the Union health ministry was aiming to start the outpatient department (OPD) by February 2019. “If construction activity is not be completed, it will be started in some transit campus,” she said.When contacted, Bathinda DC Praneet said the additional deputy commissioner (ADC), sub-divisional magistrate (SDM) and tehsildar were there at the programme. “I was occupied somewhere else. All sanctions, except the environmental clearance, have already been given. The state-level environmental committee held its meeting on Wednesday and the clearance is deemed to be given,” said the DC.

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