Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh today met Union Health Minister J P Nadda and raised the issue of setting up of AIIMS in Bilaspur and sought Centre's intervention for its early opening.
He said the state government identified 1,200 bighas of land, out of which 750 bighas of non-forest land had been transferred for the institute.
Singh said the documentation of forest clearance of remaining 450 bighas of land was under consideration of the Centre and urged for early intervention so that further action could be taken up for opening of the institute at the earliest.
Nadda assured all the support and cooperation to Singh.
"Nadda also raised issues regarding allotment of the land for new branch of National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) at Shimla. Nadda said that NCDC requires 2-3 acres of land from the state to set up a world class lab at the cost of Rs 10 crore.
"He requested the Chief Minister to expedite the process of transferring the land so that necessary steps can be taken up for establishing such a facility in the state," an official statement said.
Singh apprised the Health Minister that the state had signed a Memorandum of Understanding to take over the medical college building at Ner Chowk in Mandi district and the academic session would be started from next year for which there was requirement of equipments and other facilities.
Singh also requested Nadda to provide financial support for installing medical equipment in ESI Medical College at Mandi. He said the state government had to pay Rs 285 crore to ESI over a period of five years beginning from 2019 in lieu of this college building.
Noting that the clearance for establishing medical college attached to the district hospitals of Hamirpur and Chamba is still pending, Nadda said the state government should take proactive steps for establishing both the colleges. The centre has earmarked Rs 189 crore for each.
He also said all formalities had been completed to start classes in Dr Y S Parmar Medical College, Nahan from September, 2016 besides appointing teaching faculty and other staff.
The Health Minister noted that even though the tender worth Rs 62.55 crore for the super speciality hospital Block at Indira Gandhi Medical College (IGMC) in Shimla has been awarded, the civil work has not yet started.
"The state government may look into this and take necessary action so that the project is not delayed further.
"The Health Minister also urged for allotting the land
for Central Drugs Standard Control Organization (CDSCO) and Drug Testing Lab at Baddi so that the project can be rolled out smoothly," the statement said.
The setting up of CDSCO Sub Zonal Office with Drug Testing lab will cost about Rs 10 crore, the Health Minister said.
Noting that his ministry is seeking proposals from the state for establishing Centre of Excellence (CoE) for Mental Health at the cost of Rs 30 crore, Nadda said the state should send the proposal to the ministry for consideration.
Nadda said the ministry has approved the establishment of Geriatric Centre at Tanda under the Rashtriya Varishth Jan Swasthya Yojana (RVJSY).
"The state government is requested to adopt this scheme and sign an MoU with the ministry," Nadda said as per the statement.
Singh asked Nadda for early approval of the proposals of the state to establish Mother Child Health Care Centre (MCH) at Bilaspur and 50 bedded hospital at Ghumarwin.
He said under the National Health Mission (NHM) a delegation of senior officers of the State had already met Managing Director of NHM for enhancement of resource envelope for the state.
During the meeting, the Health Minister also recalled the announcement made by Road and Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari regarding the 56 new national highways for Himachal Pradesh.
The Health Minister requested the Chief Minister to expedite the preparation of Detailed Project Reports for these national highways.
Chief Secretary V C Pharka apprised the Health Minister about the progress of the state government in establishing a super specialty ward in IGMC, Shimla to be constructed at a cost of Rs 150 crore and National Disease Centre at Boileuganj in Shimla.
