MANDI (HP) : Union Minister for Health Ghulam Nabi Azad today said the Centre has doubled the budget allocation in health sector for Jammu and Kashmir, Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh.
Addressing the gathering at Zonal Hospital campus after laying the foundation of Rs 17 crore 100-bedded Mother-Child Hospital here, he said “because of tough geographical topography of these hilly states the development works become difficult to carry out in stipulated working period.”
The Union Minister added that “as he himself belongs to Doda area of J&K, he better realises the problems being faced by hilly areas as the working period in comparison to other states is limited to only six to seven months.”
Mr Azad announced to set up two Trauma centers in the hospitals of the State besides a burn Centre at IGMC Shimla. “I wanted to see Himachal Pradesh emerging as a model State in every sphere of development and especially in Health Sector in next four years’ he said and added that as many as six health institutions equivalent to AIIMS have been developed in the country with super-specialised facilities like Oncology, Cardio-Thoracic and Vascular Surgery, Neurology Nephrology, Neurosurgery, Gastroenterology, Cardiology and Urology.
Earlier, the Minister inaugurated Rs 150 crore super speciality hospital block at Doctor Rajender Prasad Government Medical College, (RPGMC), Tanda through video conferencing.
Mr Azad was to go to RPGMC alongwith Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh and State health minister, but due to adverse weather condition the trio could not fly from here. He said a similar super speciality hospital worth Rs 150 crore would be developed in Shimla.
“This will give relief to the people of the State who otherwise had to rush to PGIMER Chandigarh or AIIMS Delhi for specialised treatment,” the Union Minister added.
Mr Azad said from last two years the Centre has been contributing in 90:10 ratio for Himachal Pradesh in health sector under National Rural Health Mission (NRHM), while the other states were getting assistance in 75:25 ratio.
He said two cancer institute’s would be set up in Shimla and Mandi, besides financial aid of Rs 190 crore each would be provided to set up Medical Colleges in backward and bordering districts of Chamba and Nahan.
Lauding the Chief Minister initiatives in overall development of the state, he said it was due to his farsightedness and dynamic leadership that the state was marching rapidly on the path of progress. Besides, former Union Communications Minister ‘Pandit Sukhram Ji, who hailed from Mandi, had brought revolution in telecommunication sector and it was a matter of pride for all of us that Himachal was first such State in the country which excelled in Telecom sector where every village had telephone connectivity’, he said.
A revolution has been brought in health sector in the country from the past one decade and especially during the UPA regime, he claimed and said the Manmohan Singh Government focused on strengthening the basic infrastructure in health sector by opening more avenues in this sector.
As many as 18,000 hospitals were opened during 2004-09, while 35,000 such institutes were opened during his tenure, Mr Azad said, adding apart from this, the norms of Medical Council of India (MCI) and Nursing council were amended so as to recruit more specialist doctors, MBBS doctors and Nurses including other paramedic staff. (AGENCIES)
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