HT Bureau
SILCHAR, May 1: State Health and Family Welfare minister Keshab Mahanta inaugurated a state-of-the-art cath lab and OT complex with eight surgical rooms at Jeevanjyoti Medical Science Institute here. Inaugurating the cath lab and eight OT complexes in the presence of Silchar MP Dr Rajdeep Roy who is also the managing director of JJM and MLA Silchar Dipayan Chakraborty, Lakhipur MLA Kaushik Rai and other dignitaries, the chief guest of the occasion the health minister Keshab Mahanta said that with the development of health care facilities in the Barak Valley, the state government led by chief minister Himanta Biswa Sharma is committed to ensure state-of-the-art treatment for the people of the valley.
“The government has given special emphasis on the infrastructural development of health care facilities,” added the minister.
While emphasising on the government’s policies regarding the development of health services, minister Mahanta said that the state government has started preparations to start construction of a medical college in Karimganj, which will be the second medical college of the valley and a 500-bedded hospital will be constructed in the Karimganj Medical College.
The minister further said that the present government is taking measures to expand the Silchar Medical College with 2,000 beds. It has also been decided to construct a state-of-the-art super specialty hospital at Silchar Medical College for the benefit of the people of Barak under the Assam Government State Health Infrastructure Empowerment Project with a loan from JICA, the work will be started from this year, similarly, a new civil hospital will be constructed in Lakhipur, Karimganj and Hailakandi districts, the minister added.
Minister Mahanta also mentioned that the construction of a state-of-the-art cancer hospital is nearing completion to provide world-class affordable medical services to the cancer patients of Barak Valley.
The minister further said that the Assam government has taken special measures to ensure free medical care facilities up to Rs 5lakh per year for the beneficiaries having a ration card in the state.
The Health minister spoke at length about the new health insurance policy for the poorer sections of the state ,he said that the state government’s health department is ready to launch a new medical insurance scheme named as Chief Minister Ayushman Assam Jan Arogya Yojana as part of the chief minister’s special plan to provide the ration card beneficiaries of the central government’s Ayushman Bharat, Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana with up to Rs 5 lakh per year and in addition to the Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana, this new scheme of the state government will also be made available to Jeevan Jyothi Medical Institutes to be implemented from May 10.
The minister also said that for the state government employees, the new health scheme titled Assam Lok Sabha Arogya Yojana will also be taken up soon to ensure the health care benefits of the government employees of the state.
Earlier, Silchar MP and MD of JJM, Lakhipur MLA Kaushik Rai, Silchar MLA Dipayan Chakraborty and principal of SMC&H Dr Babul Bejbaruah spoke on the occasion.
Later, the Health minister Keshab Mahanta visited Silchar Medical College and reviewed various aspects related to the hospital. The minister also reviewed the progress of the infrastructural development project after being informed about all the reports of the medical college for the past year. Minister Mahanta reviewed the status of the Atal Amrita Abhiyan and implementation of Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana. The minister inquired about the facilities and requirements available in the medical college and assured that these facilities will be fulfilled. The review meeting was also attended by MP Dr Rajdeep Roy, MLA Dipayan Chakraborty, MLA Kaushik Rai, DC Rohan Kumar Jha, principal of the college Dr Babul Bejbaruah, superintendent of SMC&H Bhaskar Gupta along with joint health coordinator, various departmental officers including Civil Construction Department (House) executive architects and officials of the of APDCL.
