Chief minister Yogi Adityanath on Sunday said the state government would soon launch a piped drinking water supply project in the Bundelkhand region of Uttar Pradesh at an estimated cost of Rs 9,000 crore (Rs 90 billion).
He also announced the government would lay the foundation of the ambitious Bundelkhand Expressway next month. The project will be a game-changer for the region, he said.
He made the announcements soon after he inaugurated a super-speciality block at Maharani Laxmibai Medical College in Jhansi on Sunday. Funds from the Pradhanmantri Swasthya Suraksha Yojna-Phase 3 were used to build the new block.
“The new facility will not only help the entire Bundelkhand in UP, but it will also benefit the people in the neighbouring districts of Madhya Pradesh by providing affordable treatment of serious ailments,” he said.
While the previous governments built only 12 medical colleges in the state in 70 years, the present state government was setting up 23 medical colleges in Uttar Pradesh, he said.
“Medical tourism has immense possibilities in the state. We should do more work in this direction,” he said.
{{/usCountry}}“Medical tourism has immense possibilities in the state. We should do more work in this direction,” he said.
{{/usCountry}}He called upon medical professionals to be sensitive towards the patients, adding that junior doctors should behave themselves.
“In India, people look at doctors as gods. Uphold this faith, always,” he said.
On the importance of the ‘Swachh Bharat Mission’, he said: “Cleanliness promotes health. The state was in the grip of encephalitis for forty years. We overcame it by building toilets on a large scale and providing safe drinking water.”
To doctors present at the event, Adityanath said: “I suggest you should organise ‘Arogya Mela (health camps) at PHCs/CHCs once a week.”
Talking about ‘cardiac vans’, the chief minister said: “The cardiac vans could save an estimated 78,000 lives. The government has given cardiac vans to all districts, and the fleet will be expanded.”