Technology

GOVT Will Set Up 20 AIIMS & Upgrade 73 Medical Colleges

The Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi has approved setting up a total of 20 All India Institutes of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) across the country. Six of these have already been established. Besides, 73 medical colleges will be upgraded. The decision is part of the Pradhan Mantri Swasthya Suraksha Yojana (PMSSY) which has been extended by two years till 2020, with a financial outlay of Rs 14,832 crore, Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad told reporters while briefing on the cabinet decisions on Wednesday.”We are going to set up 20 AIIMS in the country, six have already been established, and would upgrade 73 medical colleges. This is a historic decision,” said the Union Law, Justice and Information Technology Minister. The decision to extend the PMSSY has been taken to meet the shortfall in healthcare professionals and facilities across the country, he added.”Setting up of new AIIMS would not only transform health education and training but also address the shortfall of healthcare professionals in the region… Setting up of new AIIMS in various states will lead to employment generation for nearly 3,000 people in various faculty and non-faculty posts in each of the AIIMS,” said an official statement released at the press briefing by Press Information Bureau. The cost of construction infrastructure for the proposed AIIMS will be fully funded by the Central government. It will also bear the operations and maintenance expenses of these facilities. The upgradation programme broadly envisages improving health infrastructure through construction of super specialty blocks, trauma centres and others, the statement said. The procurement of medical equipment for existing as well as new facilities will be done on sharing basis by both Central and state governments.PMSSY was started during the government of Atal Bihari Vajpayee to provide quality healthcare in remote areas as it’s not right to put all the pressure on AIIMS in Delhi. There were talks of setting up six AIIMS. But what happened in the next 10 years is for all to see, said Prasad. The Cabinet  also approved construction and operationalisation of 100 bedded General Hospital at Rural Health Training Centre (RHTC) in South-West Delhi’ s Najafgarh district at an estimated cost of about Rs. 95 crore.The Project envisages setting up the hospital in two years to cater to the local population of 13.65 Lakh spread across 73 villages. The hospital will include four major clinical services in Medicine, Obstetrics & Gynaecology, Paediatrics and Surgery, including a blood bank, diagnostic services and separate Out Patient Departments (OPD) for General Medicine, Surgery, Dental, ENT, Ophthalmology, audiometric and paediatric care with more than 30 doctors and 40 nurses, apart from 50 Allied and Healthcare staff. This hospital will address a long-standing healthcare access issue for the local population, especially for the vulnerable sections including women and children. It will provide child and maternal services, trauma care and basic primary diagnostic, therapeutic, preventive and curative services in the area. The hospital is expected to be fully operational by May 2020 along with all departments and requisite human resources, the official statement added. (Images taken from Zee News )

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