Chhattisgarh: Bhupesh Baghel proposes regulation to accumulate pvt faculty owned by son-in-law’s kin

IN WHAT raises questions of battle of curiosity, the Chhattisgarh authorities, in an uncommon transfer, plans to take over, through a regulation, a financially-strapped medical faculty owned by a household into which Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel’s daughter has married.
The state authorities is engaged on a Bill to accumulate privately-owned Chandulal Chandrakar Memorial Medical College in Durg. This faculty is owned by Chandulal Chandrakar Memorial Hospital (CCMH), an unlisted non-public firm, registered in March 1997.
Chandulal Chandrakar was a Congress chief, a five-term Lok Sabha MP from Durg, and a Union minister up to now. He died in 1995. The hospital was promoted in his reminiscence by the Chandrakar neighborhood, and the Director of CCMH is Mangal Prasad Chandrakar. He is likely one of the 59 shareholders, holding about 4% within the firm.
The draft Bill, seen by The Indian Express, says the hospital requested the state authorities to accumulate the school because it was in “financial difficulties”. Many college students are finding out within the medical faculty, notes the draft Bill in its ‘Statement of Object and Reasons’, and that the state authorities is glad that an “immediate acquisition” is “necessary in public interest”.
While the liabilities of the school might be that of the homeowners of CCMH, the state will undertake a valuation train of the movable and immovable belongings of the school and pay the quantity to CCMH, in accordance with the draft Bill.
A piece of bureaucrats coping with the information are, nonetheless, “uncomfortable” with the choice, for the reason that
The CM’s daughter, Divya Baghel, is married to Kshitij Chandrakar, whose father Vijay Chandrakar is the youthful brother of Mangal Prasad Chandrakar, the Director of CCMH.
The authorities had swung into motion to accumulate the school after Baghel introduced it virtually six months again. On February 2, he had tweeted, “The work to acquire the private hospital under the government will start soon.”
Bureaucrats level to 3 particular points that elevate a pink flag: i) CCMH’s complete excellent debt is Rs 125 crore, of which a big half is unsecured; ii) The medical faculty being acquired was accused of ‘fraudulent’ actions by the Medical Council of India in its assembly on April 12, 2018, and iii) The faculty doesn’t even have recognition since 2017.
The Chief Minister’s Office didn’t reply to an inventory of questions despatched by The Indian Express. When contacted, S Bharatidasan, Director of Public Relations, Chhattisgarh mentioned, “The Bill is going to be presented in this session of Assembly. Until it is presented, no questions about the Bill or its circumstances could be provided by the concerned secretary.”
Kshitij Chandrakar, son-in-law of Baghel, who heads the All India Professional Congress unit within the state, acknowledged MP Chandrakar was his uncle. “The brothers (his father Vijay and uncle Mangal Prasad) had an amicable separation around 6-7 years ago,” he mentioned.
But he mentioned he favoured the acquisition for the “300-odd students” of the school. “If the government is getting a functional college at a price much less than what they would pay to build a new college, while also helping out the students, it is a good and welcome decision,” he mentioned.
Laxman Chandrakar, Executive Director, CCMH, and likewise a shareholder (3.75%) mentioned the corporate’s board of administrators had requested authorities intervention after dealing with financial hardships. “This is not a hidden fact that we have debts on us. We requested the government to save the college,” he mentioned.

Devkumar Chandrakar, additionally an Executive Director, CCMH, and a shareholder (3.75%) mentioned he was conscious of the Bill to be launched on this session. He additionally confirmed the school didn’t have recognition since 2017. “We didn’t get recognition for any year since 2017, this year’s recognition from MCI is pending,” he mentioned.
The authorities, the draft Bill says, can pay Chandulal Chandrakar Memorial Hospital — the proprietor of the school — an quantity to be determined primarily based on the valuation of the movable and immovable properties of the school. A Special Officer, proposed to be appointed, will get a yr to submit the valuation of the school’s properties to the federal government.
According to the draft Bill, the debt of Chandulal Chandrakar Memorial Medical College shall stay the legal responsibility of the proprietor “before the vesting by the Government and can be recovered by their creditors from them by following normal process of law”.
A member of the family carefully associated to Chandulal Chandrakar has additionally blamed the federal government of nepotism. Amit Chandraker, the grandson of Chandulal Chandrakar’s elder brother Chunnilal Chandrakar, and Joint Secretary, state Congress, advised The Indian Express, “The Chief Minister is trying to benefit his (daughter’s) in-laws by making a new law,” he alleged.
Responding to this, Kshitij Chandrakar mentioned, “It is illogical that the same family that didn’t want to do anything with Chandulal ji while he was alive is fighting for him. They just want to capitalise on the name of a great leader.”

Chandulal Chandrakar Memorial Hospital reported turnover of Rs 49.67 crore in 2019-20, 26 per cent lower than Rs 67.38 crore within the earlier yr, in accordance with its monetary statements for 2019-20 obtained from the Registrar of Companies. The firm’s internet value is absolutely eroded, and it reported losses of Rs 9.98 crore in 2019-20, increased than losses of Rs 8.55 crore within the earlier yr.
The firm’s complete debt for the year-ended March 31, 2020, stood at Rs 125.26 crore, of which unsecured loans accounted for nearly 43 per cent or Rs 53.81 crore.