'India seen as leader in health sector for its Covid handling'
Darpan News Desk IANS, 29 Mar, 2022 10:47 AM
New Delhi, March 29 (IANS) Minister for Health and Family Welfare Mansukh Mandaviya on Tuesday said other countries of the world look at India as a leader in the health sector after "we handled the Covid-19 pandemic so efficiently under the leadership of the Prime Minister Narendra Modi".
In response to a question on the development of healthcare facilities in the country, the Health Minister said the Central and the state governments need to work together in the health sector.
Replying to another query on states receiving more authority to deal with disease outbreaks, the Health Minister said the House that even though Health was a state subject, there was no gap in between the Centre and the states while tackling issues in the health sector.
Answering a question of Trinamool Congress MP Derek O' Brien who asked questions about the medical bills of ex-servicemen, Mandaviya said that the government is committed towards the welfare of the ex-servicemen and always ready to provide services to those with Central Government Health Scheme (CGHS) cards.
He also said that earlier the CGHS facility was provided to 75 cities in the country which has increased to 81 cities now.
Responding to the question of Samajwadi Party Member Rewati Raman Singh, the Minister of State, Health, Bharati Pawar said that altogether, 22 All India Institutes of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) are being set up in the country.
Out of 10 proposed in the first phase, six have started functioning with all departments.
"Over 15,000 patients are being examined at these six AIIMS, over seven thousand major and minor surgeries have been doing in these AIIMS while the OPD facility in another 10 AIIMS will start soon", Pawar said.
Replying to the question of DMK MP T Siva about the new AIIMS proposed in Tamil Nadu, she told the House that the site has been earmarked in Madurai.
"This AIIMS is being built with the funding from Japan International Cooperation Agency and the appointment of the Project Management Consultant has also been appointed."
She said that the land for AIIMS in Darbhanga has been finalised by the state government and the work on the building will start soon.
Modi thanked Heger for the assistance provided by Slovakia in the evacuation of Indian citizens from Ukraine, and for permitting special evacuation flights from India. He asked for Slovakia's continued assistance in the next few days with India undertaking a mission to evacuate other citizens from conflict zones.
Sidhu has urged the apex court not to punish him with a jail term in a 1988 road rage case in which he was let off with a meagre fine of Rs 1,000. Senior advocate Siddharth Luthra, representing Gurnam Singh's family, submitted that he has moved an application seeking enlargement of the scope of the notice issued.
With Ukraine closing its airspace after Russia launched a military operation in the country on Thursday, the Indian Embassy in Kiev has asked the Indian nationals to start moving towards the bordering areas so that they can be evacuated safely.
The Indian Embassy in Kiev stated that the helpline numbers are being set up at the respective check-points to facilitate evacuation through the borders. These control rooms will be based in Poland, Romania and Hungary and they will be managed by the Indian officials posted in those countries.
On Thursday, India's Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla had stated that Jaishankar has spoken to concerned officials in Poland, Romania, Hungary and Slovakia for setting up camps on the border areas for evacuation of stranded Indian nationals.
An official spokesperson said the affected people or their relatives could call from within Punjab on helpline number 1100 and others from outside India on +91-172-4111905 for seeking information in this regard.
