Taking exception to being posed questions about the change of Chief Minister in the State, Minister for Medical Education Sharan Prakash Patil told mediapersons not to ask him such questions and that he would speak about matters pertaining to public interest.
“My priority is improvement and upgradation of the hospitals under the Medical Education Department and improving the medical education system,” he said in Belagavi on Saturday.
On Minister Priyank Kharge’s statement that given an opportunity he would like to become the CM, Dr. Patil told presspersons that Mr. Kharge had not issued the statement on his own. Only after the media repeatedly asked him about it, he had said that if given an opportunity, he would like to become Chief Minister, Dr. Patil said.
To a query, he clarified that he was not invited for the breakfast meeting called by the CM. He added that his health issues prevented him from attending the meeting, he said.
“In 2017, when Mr. Siddaramaiah was the Chief Minister and I was Medical Education Minister, the projects on constructing super speciality hospitals in Belagavi, Mysuru and Kalaburagi were initiated. Now, the hospital has been completed and a proposal on recruitment of requisite staff and purchase of advanced equipment has been sent to the government. Soon, the hospital will be inaugurated,” he said.
On the allegeation that the BIMS (Belagavi Institute of Medical Sciences) had become a puppet in the hands of the officials, the Minister said that any factionism would not be tolerated and action would be taken.
On the prolonged wait for MRI and CT Scan at BIMS, he said steps would be taken to rectify the same. The issue of lack of a hostel for nursing students would also be looked into, he said.
