The establishment of the first hydro engineering college in Himachal Pradesh will boost regional development and provide more job opportunities, Union Health Minister J P Nadda today said.
He was speaking at an event where an MoU was signed between the Himachal Pradesh government and National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) and National Hydel Power Corporation (NHPC) for setting up of the hydro engineering college in Bilaspur.
"Setting of the first hydro engineering college will boost regional development and provide more job opportunities for local educated youths and make available specialised work force to NTPC and NHPC. It is indeed a historic moment," Nadda said.
He said the institution will help in generation of a technical human resource specialised for specific requirement of hydro power projects.
"This initiative of a specialised engineering college dedicated to hydro engineering would be unique not only to our country but perhaps globally as well," he said.
The Health Minister noted that hydro power generation, particularly in Himalayan region, requires a combination of technical skills spanning different fields of engineering - civil, hydrology, mechanical and electrical engineering, among others.
"Thus, there is a need to have a comprehensive and specialised field of study - hydro engineering college would be an appropriate model," he said, thanking Power Minister Piyush Goyal for taking up the project.
Noting that the Hydro Engineering College was conceived in 2009, Nadda said the long-cherished dream is being realised through signing of the pact today.
Himachal Pradesh possesses more than 20,000 MW hydropower potential and NTPC and NHPC are engaged in operation and construction of many projects in the state.
Goyal said that the institute will provide avenues for higher and technical education and youth of the state will not have to go to faraway places for being technically trained and skilled and added that the college will develop into a Centre of Excellence.
BCCI President and BJP MP Anurag Singh Thakur was also present at the event.
Noting that "persistent and intensive" focus on maternal
and child health has yielded dividends, Nadda said that besides sustaining the country's polio-free status, India has successfully validated Maternal and Neonatal tetanus elimination in May 2015, well before the global target.
"What is noteworthy is that India's Under-5 Mortality Rate and Maternal Mortality Ratio declined at a higher pace than global average," he said.
The Health Minister said that initiatives like free drugs services, free diagnostics services, strengthening district hospital, roll out of comprehensive primary health care, quality assurance programme and the Kayakalp awards are all intended to reduce fragmentation of care, improve quality of care and reduce out of pocket expenses.
Nadda also released operational framework on management of common cancers, guidance note for outsourced call centre for tele-consultation, grievance redressal and providing information about schemes.
On the basis of health indicators and service delivery, the best performing large states for decline in IMR was given to Haryana and West Bengal while Nagaland and Tripura were given the award in the small state category.
For service delivery in public health facilities, Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh were awarded amongst large states and Sikkim and Himachal Pradesh were awarded amongst small states. Best performing Union Territory was Dadar and Nagar Haveli.
Minister of State for Health Faggan Singh Kulaste said that this summit is a good platform to share experiences and collectively strategise on how to improve health services in the country.
Andhra Pradesh Health Minister Kamineni Srinivas highlighted various steps taken for pregnant women, reducing Infant Mortality Rate, Maternal Mortality Rate and reducing out-of-pocket expenditure for the patients while appreciating the Centre's help for free drugs and diagnostics for the poor and telemedicine schemes.
