Guwahati, Jan 12: Union health minister Mansukh Mandaviya virtually inaugurated the campus of National Institute of Pharmaceutical Education and Research (NIPER) in the presence of Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma at a function at Changsari in Kamrup district on Friday.
In a significant boost to healthcare infrastructure in the Northeast, Mandaviya also dedicated five new facilities in the Regional Institute of Paramedical and Nursing Science (RIPANS) in Aizawl, Mizoram to the nation.
He also laid the foundation stone for over 80 units of health infrastructure in seven northeastern states including Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland and Tripura under the Pradhan Mantri – Ayushman Bharat Health Infrastructure Mission (PM-ABHIM), Pradhan Mantri Swasthya Suraksha Yojana (PMSSY) and the National Health Mission (NHM).
The new campus of NIPER is spread over 27688 square metres and has been built with a total outlay of Rs 157 crore.
“NIPER has become a big name in the field of technical and higher education across the nation with about 8,000 students having graduated and becoming successful in the professional field. NIPER also has more than 380 patents registered in its name,” the minister said.
“NIPERs are on the path of making a self-reliant India in the pharmaceutical and MedTech sector by becoming a bridge connecting knowledge, education, research and business,” he added.
Along with the dedication of NIPER Guwahati, foundation stone was also laid for NIPER Hyderabad and Raebareli and several healthcare infrastructure projects in Assam.
Projects worth several crores will begin under the Pradhan Mantri – Ayushman Bharat Health Infrastructure Mission (PM-ABHIM) and another outlay of Rs 150 crore has been approved for the upgradation of Assam Medical College under the Pradhan Mantri Swasthya Suraksha Yojana (PMSSY).
Moreover, foundations for as many as 16 health infrastructure projects under Ayushman Bharat Health Infrastructure Mission were also laid on the occasion.
“The health facilities that have been created in the seven states of the Northeast will provide treatment to the people and training and employment to the youth as well as open new doors of progress in these areas,” Mandaviya said.