SIALKOT, Feb 26: Former Sialkot district nazim Mian Naeem Javed has announced that he will move the Lahore High Court against the provincial government for shelving the medical college project.

Speaking to newsmen at a local hotel on Sunday, he described the decision to abandon the project as a cruel act and an injustice to the people. “We have decided to move court against the decision.”

He said the college envisioned higher education in the field of medical science and it would have been a bright opportunity for interested students to pursue studies in the subject. The plan, he said, was initiated by the business community on a self-help basis three years ago and the provincial government had dropped it due to reasons best known to it.

Incumbent District Nazim Muhammad Akmal Cheema said the idea had been dropped by the Punjab government owing to the previous district administration’s poor planning.

He alleged that Mian Naeem had politicized this project for his personal gains, adding now there was no chance of its early revival. However, a final decision on this project would be made keeping in view the public interest.

The previous district government had initiated the project of establishing the medical college about three and-a-half years ago in active collaboration with the business community. The local businessmen and the provincial government had decided to share the estimated cost of Rs460 million.

Subsequently, Governor Khalid Maqbool laid foundation stone of the institution. Its temporary campus had been established in the nursing hostel adjacent to the Government Allama Iqbal Memorial (DHQ) Hospital.

The first batch of the college students is getting education on Sialkot medical college quota in Punjab’s various other colleges.

Meanwhile, social and business circles have urged the chief minister to revive the project which will facilitate a large number of students.