Ashok Gehlot questions delay in IPD Tower construction at Jaipur Women’s Hospital
Jaipur: Former Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot on Wednesday released the third chapter of his digital series “Intezaar Shastra – The Science of Waiting”, raising serious concerns over the delay in the construction of the IPD Tower at the Women’s Hospital (Sanganeri Gate) in Jaipur.
He alleged that the project has fallen victim to the neglect and insensitivity of the current BJP government, leaving critical healthcare infrastructure incomplete.
Gehlot stated that the project was initiated by the Congress government in February 2023, with an estimated cost of around Rs 117 crore, to provide world-class healthcare facilities for women.
The proposed IPD Tower is designed to significantly enhance medical services, featuring a capacity of 500 beds, a modern 50-bed ICU, and six state-of-the-art modular operation theatres.
According to him, the project was a key step toward strengthening maternal and women’s healthcare in the state.
He expressed deep concern that the project, which was scheduled to be completed and dedicated to the public by August 2025, is now facing delays and remains in limbo.
Questioning the current administration, Gehlot asked whether women’s healthcare was no longer a priority and how much longer the people of the state – especially mothers and sisters – would have to wait for such essential infrastructure.
Referring to his ongoing digital series, Gehlot pointed out that this was not an isolated issue.
In the first and second chapters of “Intezaar Shastra”, he had already raised questions over delays in the construction of the IPD Tower at SMS Hospital as well as projects related to the Mahatma Gandhi Institute of Social Sciences.
Throughout the series, he has consistently highlighted what he describes as a pattern of slow progress and administrative inaction in completing key public welfare projects initiated during his tenure.
Raising concerns over healthcare infrastructure, Gehlot questioned the delay in the construction of the 1,200-bed IPD Tower at SMS Hospital in the second chapter of his series.
He said the project, envisioned in 2022 and scheduled for completion by 2024, has now overshot its deadline by more than a year, with little visible progress.
He commented that the hospital was to be constructed by 2022; however, it had been over a year past the deadline and was still incomplete.
Gehlot further alleged that during the BJP’s tenure, not even a single storey of the tower had been constructed.
He added that the delay in the IPD Tower meant compromising patients’ lives, and that the project was intended to provide relief to thousands of patients visiting the state’s largest government hospital.