Union Minister of Health and Family Welfare, Mansukh Mandaviya has said that in the last nine years, the number of medical colleges in the country have doubled and the Union government is building one critical care unit in each district of the country. The Union minister’s statement came at the inaugural event of the regional cancer centre at the North Eastern Indira Gandhi Regional Institute of Health and Medical Sciences (NEIGRIHMS) in Shillong, Meghalaya. 


Speaking at the event, the minister further highlighted the increase in medical seats across the country from 50,000 in 2014 to 1,07,000 at present. At the event, the minister also inaugurated a new undergraduate medical college, a new building of a nursing college, eight modular operation theatres and other facilities. At the event, he further laid the foundation stone for a 150-bed Critical Care Block at NEIGRIHMS.


"In the last nine years, the number of medical colleges has doubled in the country. A total of 1,70,000 Health and Wellness Centres have been created across India. We are also building one Critical Care unit in every district in the country," Mansukh Mandaviya was quoted as saying by news agency PTI. 


Also Read: Health Minister Mandaviya Inaugurates Nagaland’s First Medical College, CM Hails It As 'Historic Day'


The new facilities at NEIGRIHMS will provide much-needed healthcare services to the people of the Northeast. The central government is committed to improve the health infrastructure in the region,” he further added. 


"It is our plan to develop NEIGRIHMS as an institute of national importance," said Mandaviya added. While other countries in the world follow a three-layered health system, India boasts of its four-tier mechanism - ASHA, primary, secondary and tertiary services,” the Union minister was further reported as saying. 


Notably, the ASHA workers played a significant role at the forefront in the country’s battle against the COVID-19 pandemic. The Union health minister has also announced that for the next four years, the government has earmarked 64,000 crores, amounting to roughly 100 crores per district. 


(With inputs from PTI)


Education Loan Information:

Calculate Education Loan EMI