SHILLONG: Health Minister AL Hek, on Monday, said that work for the under-construction Ayush hospital in Sohra has been stalled due to the COVID-19 situation while feeling sated over the overall progress made in the project, which is now around 60 per cent complete.
Informing this here on Monday, Hek said that 60 per cent of the work on the 250-bed hospital in Sohra has been completed, while work order has also been issued for a similar 50-bed hospital at Umtraw.
The minister also informed that the government is keen to constitute a Directorate of Ayush to provide a much-needed push to the low-cost medicine system in Meghalaya, which is yet to join the list of states in the country fitted with the particular department.
The minister said that with the Ayush system in the state, people would get multiple options for treatment.
The department is looking for a suitable land for the purpose, he added. The Health department has also written to the Urban Affairs and Revenue departments to allot the land in establishing the directorate.
A few days earlier, the state government had, in details, discussed with the Union Minister of Ayush, Shripad Naik, about several Ayush projects being implemented in the state.
In this connection, the health minister informed that the Union ministry has given principal sanction for establishing a total of 13 Ayush Health and Wellness Centres across Meghalaya.
The state government has also submitted a proposal and estimates to the Centre for establishing 22 more such centres under the current financial year.
Bearing a holistic approach, Ayush has become popular among the people due its lower side-effects, costs and considerations of it being more natural.
