Expressing concern over rise in Covid-19 cases in Himachal Pradesh, Chief Minister Thakur Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu has urged the people of the State to follow the corona protocols and wear masks at crowded places to check the spread of this virus. The Chief Minister was presiding over a conference on ‘Strengthening role of Himachal Pradesh Legislators for improving health services during and post pandemic period in India’ organized by the Indian Association of Parliamentarians on Population and Development (IAPPD) here yesterday evening. He said that the government was closely monitoring the situation and the society has to learn to live with the corona virus.
The Chief Minister said that the present state government was doing reforms in the health sector to provide specialized medical care services to the people. He said that the positive results of these reforms would be visible in the coming times. He said that modern technology would be incorporated to make the health institutions of the state world-class so that modern medical facilities were made available to the people at their doorsteps. He said that robotic surgery facilities would be available at Medical College Tanda and IGMC Shimla in next six months, which would save the valuable time of the patients and provide accurate results.
Thakur Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu said that the government has also allocated Rs. 11 crore to set up a 175-bed medical emergency facility with a Trauma centre at IGMC Shimla. He said that construction work of Chamba and Hamirpur Medical College buildings has been speeded up and likely to be completed this year which will provide specialized medical services to the people of these areas nearer to their homes. He said that the state government has also constituted the Medical Services Corporation for procurement of medicines, equipment and machinery in health institutions, in order to promote transparency in the system.
The construction work of a PET Block has been started in IGMC Shimla, while Rs. 50 crore would be spent to install a PET scan machine in Dr. Rajendra Prasad Government Medical College, Tanda, he added. The Chief Minister said that the present State Government has been taking various welfare oriented and pro-people decisions to benefit every section of the society. He said that the State Government was committed to fulfill all the guarantees of Congress Party in a phased manner given during the general assembly elections to the people of the State. He said that the state government has set a target of making Himachal Pradesh a green energy state and the green budget was a positive step in this direction. He said that the present government was committed to preserving the clean environment of the State and has taken various initiatives to check the emission of pollution which would go a long way in mitigating the problem of climate change. Earlier, Vice President IAPPD Viplove Thakur welcomed the Chief Minister and detailed the activities of the Association. Deputy Chief Minister Mukesh Agnihotri, Vidhan Sabha Speaker Kuldeep Singh Pathania, Health Minister Dr. (Col.) Dhani Ram Shandil, Education Minister Rohit Thakur and other MLAs were also present on the occasion.
