Excelsior Correspondent
NEW DELHI,Mar 5: The Union Health and Family Welfare Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad today announced that re-development of Dr. Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital, New Delhi would be taken up in two phases during the 12th Five Year Plan. He was addressing the first batch of Post Graduate and Super Speciality students passing out of the Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research, Dr. Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital (PGIMER-RML). He urged the fresh graduates to take up assignments in the rural areas for some years at least to begin with, added medical fraternity should extend the fruits of scientific advancements to the poorest households in the remotest regions of the country.
Spelling out details of the re-development plan of Dr. Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital, Mr Azad said in the first phase, it is proposed to construct a super-speciality building with state of art medical facilities. The new facilities will provide services like Cancer Care Centre to provide Medical, Surgical and Radiation Oncology Services; Paediatric Cardiology Services will be added to the Cardiac Care Service; Surgical Gastroenterology and Endocrinology Services to compliment the Gastroenterology and Endocrinology departments; Transplant Facility for organ donation and transplant; day-care services for super-speciality departments as also private wards for patients of Super-speciality departments.
He also said while all these activities are in the pipeline, man-power and equipment for Paediatric Cardiology Services and an Electro-physiology Lab have already been sanctioned. Mr Azad mentioned that another two plots of land measuring approximately four acres in the heart of the city have been earmarked by the Union Urban Development Minister on his personal request.
He also informed the gathering of the recent initiatives taken up by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare to augment the human resources in health sector. He informed that 46 new medical colleges have been established just in the last two years raising the number from 289 to present day 335.
The number of MBBS seats has gone up from 32,892 to 41,469, an increase of 8,577 seats. Similarly, the number of PG seats has increased from 13,000 to 21,181, an increase of 8,181 seats. To overcome faculty shortage, Mr Azad said DNB graduates have also been made eligible to take up faculty assignments and more measures to bridge the gap are underway.
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