raipur chhattisgarh governments move to encourage setting up private hospitals in rural areas by providing them with grants has sparked a controversy with senior congress leader and health minister t s singhdeo disagreeing with the concept and the opposition taking a jibe at the ruling congress over the differencesthe issue cropped up after chief minister bhupesh baghel on june 26 last asked the officials to submit within 10 days an action plan for providing grants or incentives to encourage the setting up of private hospitals in the rural areas for strengthening health infrastructure in the statethe chief minister has given instructions to seek the cooperation of the private sector for strengthening health facilities in the rural area make specialist doctors available in the rural areas and expand health services in the rural areas and for the development of health infrastructure the state government will provide grant subsidies to the private sectors especially for the construction of hospitals in rural areas an official release saidthe chief minister felt that various types of grants and subsidies are being provided for the establishment of industries in the state besides there is a provision for providing grants to service sector industries but there is no provision for any incentive for the establishment of private sector hospitals therefore to strengthen the health infrastructure grants and subsidies will be provisioned to encourage the private sector to set up hospitals in rural areas industries department has been directed to submit an action plan in the context within 10 days the government release saidhowever health minister t s singhdeo a senior minister in the two and a halfyearold congress government went public over the issue expressing his strong reservation about the concept i just heard about it nobody has discussed this matter with me i am not in favour of this right from the beginning my stand is always in favour of universal health carei think since universal health care is an english word the message did not reach the people properly i am in favour of the scheme under which all citizens get free health care with public money and from the government budget he said pointing out that we always maintain that there is a shortage of budget to strengthen public health infrastructure while on the other hand we plan to give money to the private sector if private sector provides free treatment after availing such grants then one can understandsingh said it would not be fair policy if public money is given to private institutions to establish hospitals and they charge treatment costs from the people the concept has not been discussed seriously till date but in any case i am not in favour of it the health minister said while talking to the media he said the fact continues to remain that no hospital or doctor wants to serve the rural areas including the remote tribal areas like sukma and silger in bastarbjp vicepresident and former chief minister raman singh took a jibe