PESHAWAR: The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government has allotted 101kanal of land worth billions of rupees to Indus Foundation, a Karachi-based NGO, for building a hospital and medical college in violation of law, according to sources.

They say the allotment of land to a private entity is in violation of Public Private Partnership (PPP) Act, 2014, which calls for strict scrutiny in such agreements.

Under the law, the health department is require d to follow a proper procedure involving all departments before a final decision, they add.

Sources say that provincial law department and Senior Member Board of Revenue had opposed the leasing out of public land to a private entity and the former secretary health too recorded his views against the project.

Provincial Minister for Health Shahram Khan Tarakai, however, returned the summary withoutrecording his views. A new summary was moved when the incumbent secretary health, Jamal Yousaf, took charge of the office from Mushtaq Ahmad Jadoon.

Sources say that the earlier reluctance of the health department to lease out the land stemmed from fear that by doing so it would be violating PPP Act and National Accountability Bureau or Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Ehtesab Commission would take action against it.

The file of the leasing issue that moved around between different departments for over a year due to opposition by health and law departments and SMBR surprisingly saw new impetus with the departure of Mr Jadoon and arrival of Mr Jamal.

Officials familiar with the issue say that the case was relentlessly pursued by a Pakistan Tehreek-iInsaf loyalist.

The plot had originally been allotted for construction of Benazir Bhutto Hospital and Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto Medical College in 1990 but it remained inlimbo since then.

Initially, the government had planned to offer80-kanaltoIndus Hospital and leave the remaining 21-kanal for construction of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto Medical College.

But those pursuing the lease case were adamant not to accept anything less than the entire piece of land.

Initially, sources say, the group had offered to establish a hospital to provide free-of-cost treatment to poor patients but later put a new demand for the construction of a medical college to raise revenue for operating the hospital.

`This didn`t look like a charity work they said they would be doing. Over time, during the 99 years lease, the group would earn more money than it would have invested in building the hospital and running it,` said a source familiar with the project.

A writ petition, filed by late ANP leader Arbab Ayub Jan, further complicated the issue. He contested relocation of ZAB Medical College. The chief secre-tary and the then secretary health gave undertaking to Peshawar High Court that the project would not be relocated.

As a proof, they also, submitted the approved PC-1 and PC-H of the project. Now, after having agreed to lease out the entire piece of land to a private entity, the government is moving the medical college to Regi Model Town.

Health Secretary Jamal Yousaf, however, defended the decision, saying PPP Act did not apply to charities. `Chief Minister Pervez Khattak has approved a summary which will be followed by an agreement with the charity and the government,` he told Dawn.

The government will sign a lease agreement on the basis of multiple extensions of 30 plus 30 plus 30 years upon its performance.

`The provincial government allotted 50-kanal to Shaukat Khanum Memorial Hospital to facilitate free treatment of patients,` said Mr Yousaf. He said that the project was designed inconsultations with all departments, including health, finance, law and administration.

`We have moved a separate summary to purchase 21-kanal of land in Regi Model Town for construction of ZAB Medical College by the health department,` he said.

The official said that a 500-bed hospital over a period of three years would be built which would be started in a phase-wise manner. `We will put in place airtight mechanism to monitor its performance. The government can terminate the lease agreement upon a single stance where the hospital has charged any patient,` he said.

However, Dr Abdul Bari, head of the Indus Foundation, told Dawn that he would accept the agreement when he saw the summary approved by the government.

`The facility we have planned would provide 100 per cent free treatment. It will be a paperless hospital where state-of-the-art health facilities would be made available to people,` said Dr Bari.