SHILLONG, Dec 3: The state government will spend more than Rs 250 crore for the facelift of medical infrastructure in the state with Rs 150 crore alone earmarked for construction of 300 sub-centres across the state.
Announcing this after inaugurating the 100-bed Maternal and Child Health (MCH) Hospital in Panaliar, Jowai, Chief Minister Conrad Sangma reiterated the Meghalaya Democratic Alliance’s commitment to provide to the people access to better healthcare facilities.
He also explained how COVID-19 pandemic revealed various shortcomings in the state’s healthcare sector.
Informing the gathering about the different initiatives under the health sector, the chief minister said that the state government has renovated 80 health facilities over the last one year and close to 1,000 beds have been added to the infrastructure capacity of the state.
Informing that almost 200 health facilities have been enabled with solar power and energy-efficient equipment, Conrad said the government will spend more than Rs 250 crore to further bolster the medical infrastructure in Meghalaya.
“As such Rs 150 crore has been earmarked for construction of 300 sub-centres in the state, Rs 12.5 crore has been earmarked for setting up of 10 Integrated Public Health Laboratories (IPHLs) and two Critical Care Blocks will be set up in the state at a total cost of Rs 47.5 crore, which will add 100 more beds with modern facilities and advance surgery capabilities,” the chief minister informed.
He also informed that Meghalaya has come up with a recruitment board to address the challenges of overall recruitment of trained personnel, especially doctors and specialists.
“We have overall challenges in terms of recruitment, especially in the health sector, and that is why to overcome those challenges we have also come out with a separate recruitment board for doctors and specialists. And within the next few months, we expect that through this medical recruitment board, all the positions for doctors and specialists will be filled up at the earliest. Health has been an area which is of great importance to our state and the government of Meghalaya has responded appropriately in order to meet those challenges,” he said.
Base laid
During his visit, the chief minister also laid the base for the construction of the Integrated Development Complex at Ladthadlaboh, Jowai, in the presence of Urban Affairs Minister Sniawbhalang Dhar and Jowai MLA Wailadmiki Shylla.
During the programme, the chief minister said that the Integrated Development Complex will bring government services under one roof, making the overall service delivery simpler, easier and more efficient.
“This is a new concept which we strongly feel is important for us to bring reforms in administration and to make the overall public service delivery a much simpler and easier process,” Conrad said.
He also admitted that many government offices were functioning from rented buildings even in major towns and headquarters, and the Integrated Development Complex can provide the office space to all the different government departments in the district.
“It will not only save space but more importantly it will allow for government services to be given from one location. The concept of DC offices, block offices or different departmental offices had come up a long time back but times have changed. We strongly feel that these are the reforms that we require to move forward as a state,” he added.
The chief minister also informed that apart from speedy service delivery, the government, with the help of technology, is working to make the interface for availing government services more accessible to the people.
It may be mentioned that an estimated amount of Rs 19.8 crore has been earmarked for the construction of the Integrated Development Complex.