'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.
A Delhi court on Thursday directed Delhi Police to file an Action Taken Report (ATR) on a petition seeking an FIR against Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar for his alleged controversial remarks against the protesting farmers.
The Uttar Pradesh government has given a six months' extension to the special investigation team (SIT) probing the anti-Sikh riots of 1984. The SIT had sought extension and the state government has given time to the SIT to complete the investigation and make arrests by May 2022.
This comes just days after the COP26 climate summit, where India pledged to cut emissions to net zero by 2070, reduce carbon emissions by one billion tonnes by 2030, and raise the share of renewables in the energy mix to 50 per cent, among others, before staging a last-minute climbdown opposing a commitment to "phase out" coal.
The Supreme Court on Wednesday appointed Justice Rakesh Kumar Jain, a former judge of Punjab and Haryana High Court, to monitor the Lakhimpur Kheri violence probe and to ensure fairness and independence in the investigation.
The Supreme Court on Tuesday junked petitions against the Punjab and Haryana High Court order, which upheld the appointment of Dinkar Gupta as Punjab Director General of Police.
Punjab has always stood against external intrusions and hence must be considered as a security case, not just as an economic case at the time of budgetary allocation, state Finance Minister Manpreet Singh Badal said here on Tuesday. Badal made the demand during a virtual discussion with Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on stepping up investment, infrastructure and growth in the country.
