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Land is a touchy issue in Gurgaon, especially when it involves government land. This was evidenced when Haryana CM Manohar Lal Khattar had to intervene to end a heated exchange between renowned heart surgeon Dr Naresh Trehan and some journalists, who had begun to ask the good doctor some prickly questions on his request for a 6-acre plot ‘that is visible from my office’ (proposedly for a children's hospital). The occasion was the launch of a social campaign, ‘Betiyan Hain Anmol, Inhen Bachao Dil Se’, by the CM. Under the campaign, to be jointly run by Heart Care Foundation of India and Medanta - The Medicity, girl children from poor and EWS sections would get free heart surgery facility. The CM had earlier assured Dr Trehan that his request for land could be looked into keeping in mind other parts of the State, as allotment of land in Gurgaon was a very tricky issue due to the astronomical prices here. When asked by a journalist why he was interested in getting land in Gurgaon only, Dr Trehan said that Medanta Foundation has decided to open a 500 bed ‘not for profit’ hospital for children. "I am ready to pay for this land; we don’t want anything free," he asserted. However, he lost his cool when there followed a slew of questions and comments on how private hospitals in Gurgaon, including Medanta, had failed to help the poor and EWS patients despite promising that they would provide free medicare to them as per their license agreements (in exchange for getting land at subsidised rates). On this the CM again intervened and said that the terms and conditions of land allotment to the private hospitals will be checked, and it will be ensured that they strictly follow them. Those found in violation will be sent notices.
The CM also expressed concern at the skewed sex ratio in Haryana, and termed female foeticide as a social curse. The CM said that the State government is preparing a scheme for the welfare of girls. He added that the Prime Minister was also concerned about the imbalance in the sex ratio and has given a wake up call, ‘Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao’.
Earlier, the President of Heart Care Foundation of India, Dr K K Aggarwal, said that every year about 78,000 infants born with congenial heart diseases in India die due to lack of medical care. He said that those girls suffering from congenital heart disease who cannot afford its treatment, can apply for the benefits of the fund by calling the helpline number 09958771177 or logging on the website http://heartcarefoundationfund.heartcarefoundation.org/. MLA Sohna, Tejpal Tanwar, MLA Pataudi, Bimla Chaudhary, OSD to CM Jawahar Yadav, Deputy Mayor Parminder Kataria, and Vipin Malik and Vivek Kumar from Sameer Malik Heart Care Foundation Fund were also present on the occasion.
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