DoNER sanctions Rs 220 crore for new medical college and hospital in Assam

GUWAHATI:   The Union ministry of Department of North Eastern Region (DoNER) has sanctioned RS 220 crore for setting up a medical college and hospital in Nalbari district of Assam.

 Assam Health Minister Dr Himanta Bishwa Sharma said, “The DoNER has sanctioned Rs 220 crore for the medical college and hospital in Nalbari. The DoNER generally gives funds for road construction, etc. It is the first time that the ministry has provided fund such an establishment.” Assam government will spent Rs 22 crore (10 per cent  share) in the project.

He said land acquisition at Dakshingaon, about 10 kms from headquarter town Nalbari, has already started. One hundred bighas of land will be acquired for the medical college and hospital which will be 11 th such healthcare and education institutions in the state where six medical colleges and hospitals are function, 7^th is about to start function this year in Diphu while three others are under construction at Nagaon, Lakhimpur and Dhubri.

The medical college and hospital at Nalbari will be equipped with a 500-bed hospital and with annual student intake capacity of 100. The construction work will start in about four months’ time and is expected to be completed in three years.

 The minister informed that 32 lakh smart cards for beneficiaries under Assam government’s scheme Atal Amrit Abhiyan have been distributed already.  With a target of covering 1.5 crore families with annual income of less than Rs 5 lakh, the process of distribution of smart cards is likely to be completed by October this year. The cards will be made effective from December 25, on the occasion of birth anniversary of former Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee.

Once the smart card scheme is activated, the beneficiaries will be able to get cashless treatment at empaneled hospitals across the state and outside it up to Rs 2 lakh per year for six scheduled diseases, including cancer and heart ailments. A separate similar scheme for state government employees with provisions for unlimited reimbursement is also on the anvil, Dr Sharma added.