“Under the guidance of the Hon'ble Prime Minister, the work of upgradation and strengthening of medical infrastructure under Prime Minister Ayushman Bharat Health Infrastructure Mission (PM-ABHIM) is in a steady progress. Keeping in mind the experiences of the global epidemic of COVID, important work is being done under ECRP-II (Emergency COVID Response Package – II) to strengthen the medical units of the future”. This was stated by Dr. Mansukh Mandaviya, Union Minister of Health and Family Welfare while virtually laying the foundation stone of a 500 bedded hospital in Dehradun and three 50 bedded Critical Care Blocks at Rudraprayag, Nainital and Srinagar, from Joshimath today. Shri Pushkar Singh Dhami, Hon’ble Chief Minister, Uttarakhand, Shri Dhan Singh Rawat, Health Minister, Uttarakhand and Shri Ganesh Joshi, Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Uttarakhand, Smt. Rajya Laxmi Shah, Member of Parliament from Uttarakhand and Shri Naresh Bansal, Member of Parliament from Uttarakhand were also present in the ceremony held in Dehradun.
Earlier on Thursday, Dr Mandaviya visited the Malari village in Chamoli district to review the Vibrant Village Programme and other development projects in Malari and nearby areas. Before departing for Malari, he also inspected the Jan Aushadi Kendra in Dehradun and interacted with health workers and beneficiaries there.
Appreciating the commitment of the Uttarakhand govt towards the health sector, the Union Health Minister stated that “the Government of Uttarakhand is speeding up the work in the health sector, where a total of 14 critical care blocks are being constructed, 7 under the PM-ABHIM scheme and 7 under ECRP-II”. “Through these initiatives, better health facilities for emergency care will be easily available to the general public living in remote areas of the mountainous region”, he further stated.
The Critical Care Blocks at Rudraprayag and Nainital will be constructed under the ECRP-II package while the one at Srinagar will be built under the PM-ABHIM scheme. A total of Rs 71,25,00,000 has been sanctioned for 3 critical care blocks in Srinagar Pauri, Rudraprayag, and Haldwani, Nainital in order to make healthcare facilities accessible to the general public, with mutual coordination between the Government of India and the Government of Uttarakhand. An amount of Rs 23,75,00,000 has been approved for the construction of each critical care block. Facilities like ICU beds, HDU beds, isolation ward beds, isolation rooms, emergency beds, operation theatres, labor delivery rooms, joint care labs, and dialysis rooms will be provided in the Critical Care Blocks.
The 500 bedded facility in Doon Medical College will be expanded with an amount of Rs 120 crores to upgrade and strengthen the medical infrastructure in the state. With this initiative, patients coming from remote areas will also be able to get better treatment facilities in the state capital.
Shri Pushkar Singh Dhami thanked the Centre for bringing in much needed health infrastructure in the state. He stated that under the leadership of Hon’ble Prime Minister, India is surging ahead in the health sector with high impact schemes like Ayushman Bharat. He said that the Govt of Uttarakhand is working with the Union Govt to further improve the quality of healthcare in the state by spreading awareness about diseases, bringing quality and affordable healthcare services, increasing the quality and quantity of healthcare professionals in the state and by working on a mission-mode to bring in transformation in healthcare infrastructure and other schemes.
Shri Dhan Singh Rawat highlighted the progress achieved by Uttarakhand in the health sector. He stated that “Uttarakhand has achieved the highest number of blood donation in the country with more than 80,000 people already registered in the e-Raktkosh blood donation portal”. He also stated that over 50 lakh ABHA cards have been issued to people of Uttarakhand and more than 7 lakh people have availed free treatment out of them. “In the fight against TB, Uttarakhand has become the first state in India to cover 100% of TB patients under the Ni-kshay Mitra initiative”, he further stated.
Dr R Rajesh Kumar, Health Secretary, Uttarakhand, Shri Vishal Chauhan, Joint Secretary, Union Health Ministry and other senior officials of the Union Health Ministry and Uttarakhand Govt were present on the occasion.