With Covid-19 cases dipping, Delhi focuses on new health infrastructure

One of the electoral promises made by the AAP government when it first came to power in 2015 was to double the bed capacity in Delhi government hospitals from 10,000 to 20,000. The current bed capacity of Delhi government hospitals is 12,464 according to the economic survey of Delhi for 2020-21.

With cases of the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) on the decline, the national capital is focussing on new healthcare infrastructure with Delhi health minister Satyendar Jain visiting two of the new hospitals under construction in Madipur and Jwalapuri. He also visited three other hospitals that are being revamped to add beds – Acharya Shree Bhikshu Hospital in Moti Nagar, Guru Gobind Singh Hospital in Raghubir Nagar, and Shri Dada Dev Matri Avum Shishu Chikitsalaya in Dabri.

Delhi health minister Satyendar Jain visits five under-construction hospital sites of the Delhi government in New Delhi on Wednesday. (ANI PHOTO.)

Three hospitals which were completed in 2020 were also opened up for Covid-19 patients.

The bed capacity at Acharya Shree Bhikshu Hospital will be increased from the current 100 to 400. “Once ready, this facility will be dedicated to Covid-19 treatment,” the government said in a release. The hospital has currently added 50 makeshift beds and is running a 150 bed Covid-19 hospital.

The second stop for the health minister was the Madipur construction site; the plan is to complete the construction of the hospital by 2022. Then, the minister visited the under-construction building of Guru Gobind Singh Hospital. “The PWD team here is working in full swing to complete this project. This will augment the current hospital bed capacity to 572 beds,” Jain tweeted.

Delhi’s health minister then visited the construction site at Jwalapur followed by Shri Dada Dev Matri Avum Shishu Chikitsalaya where the bed capacity is being tripled from the current 106 to 300.

One of the electoral promises made by the AAP government when it first came to power in 2015 was to double the bed capacity in Delhi government hospitals from 10,000 to 20,000. The current bed capacity of Delhi government hospitals is 12,464 according to the economic survey of Delhi for 2020-21.