Following is an excerpt from a report in Statesman.
Keonjhar will soon have a medical college and an engineering college, said Bombay Oriya Mahasangha president Mr Bipin Bihari Mishra here recently. The Mahasangha will also take steps for the beautification of the major tourist spots, he added while addressing the media here today.
“As a man from Keonjhar, it deeply shocked me to see how miserable is the living condition of the people living in the remote villages. In Keonjhar, the villages are still away from the government’s various developmental programmes,” Mr Mishra lamented while explaining his plans for overall growth of the mineral-rich district. “We will adopt a village and work for its overall development. Then another village will be adopted and developed and so on,” Mr Mishra pointed out. He discussed with the media about the various problems the district is presently facing and possible ways to get rid of the problems.
… “We ensure that the cancer patients from Orissa are being treated at Tata Memorial Hospital and Cancer Research Institute free of cost, and we will also arrange for the stay of the attendants at a very nominal price as low as Rs 10 a day,” he said adding that an ‘Utakal Bhawan’ is going to come up on a land of 30,000 sq feet in Mumbai with the initiative of the Maha-sangha.
The Union Cabinet today gave its approval for creating Project Cells to expedite work in respect of 6 AIIMS like institution under the Pradhan Mantri Swasthya Suraksha Yojana (PMSSY) Scheme.
The Western Orissa Development Council (WODC) on Friday signed a MoU with the city based Vigyan Bharati Charitable Trust to set up a sophisticated hospital and medical college at Rourkela with the active support of the State Government.
Chairman of WODC Niranjan Panda said that the hospital would have 500 beds and the medical college with 100 seats. It would be functional by 2010-11.
The WODC has provided a grant of Rs 10 crore for creation of the requisite infrastructure and the State Government would provide 25 acres of land free of cost. The BPL category patients would be provided with free healthcare and no fee for consultancy and routine investigation would be charged.
The trust has agreed to reserve 10 per cent of the seats for the eligible candidates of the WODC area and provide concession in food, accommodation and purchase of books, said Panda. He hoped that the hospital would be a boon for the poor people of the region who are deprived from advanced healthcare facilities and have to travel to far off places to avail qualitative healthcare. The trust has agreed to take care of any sort of emergency health problem during natural calamities.
Chairman of Vigyan Bharati Charitable Trust Tirupati Panigrahi said he is hopeful that the hospital will be completed before schedule.
On behalf of the WODC CEO Ashwini Kumar Mishra signed the MoU. …
Following is an excerpt from a news report in The Statesman.
The proposed medical college and hospital at Rourkela is expected to be set up soon as a team of hi-tech group of institutions, led by its chairman Mr Tirupati Panigrahi paid a visit to the site recently. It is said that the visit was intended for site selection and discussion with the district administration about the ancillary formalities. The group is believed to set up a 300-bed medical college and hospital here.
They visited the Rourkela government hospital (RGH) campus, sector-13 and sector-9.
The team also called on collector Dr K Kumar and discussed with him various aspects of the venture.
Reliable sources said the group, in the first phase, would build the hospital and within six months, would upgrade the same as a medical college.
Thoufh the CM had laid the foundation stone earlier, yet the inordinate delay and changed political scenario had made people believe that the medical college may not see the light of day. But the visit of the team is described as a ray of hope.
The Western Orissa Development Council (WODC) will partly finance the project in the initial stages, sources said. …
… government of Orissa is planning to set up medical colleges in Angul, Koraput, Mayurbhanj and Balangir, revealed a Public Private Partnership (PPP) Initiative document.
… According to sources, the Chief District Medical Officers (CDMO) of these districts has been asked to identify at least 25 acres of land nearby the District Headquarters Hospitals (DHH). These DHH will be attached to the medical colleges to facilitate practical training to the students.
DR. ANBUMANI RAMADOSS: … Coming to the AIIMS-like institutions, my predecessor, Shrimati Sushma Swaraj, when she was the Minister, she had launched a scheme called Pradhan Mantri Swasth Suraksha Yojana, under which they wanted to build six new AIIMS-like institutions and upgrade seven existing institutions to a certain level. Then, after that, our Government took over. At that time, since elections were there, they could not proceed further and the UPA Government took over. It is not like that with the change in Government, the policy would change. Shri Tripathy was mentioning about the political interference and all that, which I would definitely counter that. It is a continuity. Government comes and Government goes but it is a continuity. Definitely, we are following the programme. I would like to commend my predecessor, Shrimati Sushma Swaraj for bringing out that very innovative concept. I have already thanked and commended her for this. Definitely, we are going through this. Again, I would like to say that there has been a delay. I acknowledge the delay; I regret for the same. I could explain the delay, etc. In fact, the Standing Committee on Health has gone in depth into this and they were also upset. I am more upset than the Standing Committee. There has been some delay due to non-response to the tenders, etc. Work has started in Rajasthan; work would be starting in one or two months in Bhubaneswar, in Bhopal, in Patna, etc. This is how the work is distributed and it would take little more time for me.
Even though the previous Government had plans of building six new and improving seven institutions, we are now improving nearly 13 institutions – from seven we are improving 13. Kerala was not in the list of the last Government. After the UPA Government came into power, we included Trivandrum Medical College in Kerala for upgradation and allocated Rs.120 crore. Throughout the country, we have just one slab of Rs.120 crore – Rs.20 crore from the local Government and Rs.100 crore from the Central Government. We try to do that. I would like to assure my friend, Shri Tripathy and others that definitely we are trying to work out the modalities. We had split between the housing and the hospital, etc. to quicken the pace of work. Again, I would like to categorically assure the House that we are definitely into the projects, Sir.
SHRI KHARABELA SWAIN (BALASORE): Mr. Minister, are we to take it as an assurance from you that in Bhubaneswar, the work will start within the next two months?
DR. ANBUMANI RAMADOSS: Within the next three months, it will start in Bhubaneswar.
SHRI KHARABELA SWAIN (BALASORE): Okay, three months’ time is all right.
DR. ANBUMANI RAMADOSS: In three months’ time, the work will start in Bhubaneshwar.
SHRI KHARABELA SWAIN (BALASORE): Thank you.
Viswas and others: Please note that besides the six new AIIMS-like institutes the government is taking up the upgradation of 13 exisiting medical colleges to AIIMS standard. Note that some states (UP, J & K and Andhra Pradesh) will have two of their institutes upgraded. Orissa should try to have one of its other medical colleges outside the Bhubaneswar area to be upgraded to that level. The medical colleges in Berhampur and Burla could be possible candidates.
Following is an excerpt from a news report in Pioneer.
Sri Sri Ravishankar Vidya Mandir Trust will set up a medical college and super specialty hospital near Naraj. Earlier, it was announced to set up a private university at Naraj. It has also planned to set up health centre in all the districts of the State.
In this connection, Trust member Yezdi Batliwala called on Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Saturday at the State Secretariat.
The State Government has allotted 185.97 acres of land for this purpose. The proposed university would have a core campus comprising academic and non-academic buildings to cater to the needs of 15,000 students, 1,500 faculty and matching number of non-teaching staff.
Basic science, humanities, engineering, medicine, pharmacy, business management, law, bio-science, art, culture and Vedic studies, Ayurveda, aviation and maritime training will be on course list. The campus will house a sports complex, recreational facilities, utility centres and meditation halls.
A unit of the Public Health Foundation of India (PHFI) will be set up at Bhubaneswar. A decision to this effect was taken at a joint high-level meeting between the CM Naveen Patnaik and Chairman of the Foundation Srinath Reddy at the State Secretariat on Thursday. Government will provide all the basic infrastructures for institution.
PHFI aims to influence public health education, research, and policy. The goal is to establish at least five world-class Indian Institutes of Public Health. These Institutes will initially train 1,000-plus professionals a year, with the goal of producing as many as 10,000 graduates. The Association of Schools of Public Health of the U.S. will offer educational and technical assistance.
The Foundation will bolster existing schools of public health by creating a pool of permanent faculty and establishing an accreditation agency that will standardise public health education. India currently graduates some 375 students each year from its schools of public health and institutions-compared to the 10,000 needed annually.
With the setting up this unit, Orissa will become a leader in the entire eastern region.
From the above news item it is not clear what is meant by a unit of PHFI. Is it an IIPH or something else?
Following is an excerpt from a news report in Pioneer.
Coming under a sustained pressure from the State Government, the Mahanadi Coalfield Ltd (MCL) has reportedly agreed to set up a Medical College at Talcher. A decision to this effect was taken at a high-level joint meeting between the Coal India Limited (CIL) Chairman Partha S Bhattacharjee and Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik at the State Secretariat on Thursday.
During the meeting, Patnaik placed a proposal before the Coal India Chairman to convert the existing 100 bedded hospital at Talcher to a 400-bedded hospital and to make it a full-fledged Medical College. Bhattacharjee promptly agreed to Patnaik’s proposal, sources said.
… Mahanadi Coalfields Limited CMD SR Upadhayay, Principal Secretary to Chief Minister Bijay Kumar Patnaik and Secretary, Energy, Suresh Chandra Mohapatra were present at the meeting.
