Demand to set up AMRIT centres in State
SHILLONG: A delegation of State BJP leaders, led by vice-president Bashailang Khongwir, has asked Union Health and Family Welfare Minister J.P Nadda to address the problem of shortage of doctors at primary and community health centres.
The team had submitted a memorandum pertaining to the concerns over National Rural Health Mission to the Union Minister during his recent visit to Shillong.
Nadda has assured the State BJP that the Centre would be “more than happy to bear the salary of specialist doctors up to Rs 2 lakh a month and provide financial support to expand the number of staff nurses at PHCs and CHCs.
The BJP leaders have also raised the issue of generic medicines, which will drastically reduce the cost of medicines by 30-40 percent through AMRIT (Affordable Medicine and Reliable Implants for Treatment). They had urged Nadda to bring in the Centre’s AMRIT pharmacies to the districts. Nadda told them that “he will do the needful to introduce this (central) scheme in all districts of Meghalaya if the State Government provides required facilities”.
The State Government has been pilloried by the BJP leaders for not doing enough to improve the quality of healthcare.
Khongwir said the party has not discussed about inducting any MLA into BJP. “The meeting between A.L Hek and the Union minister is his (Nadda’s) personal initiative and not as a member of the party,” he added.