ROURKELA: Health concerns dominated Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik’s visit to the city on Wednesday. Naveen launched the Biju Gramina Swasthya Sibira (BGSS) and Swasthya Sanjog programmes at Jagda here and announced a slew of health care measures to benefit the urban poor and rural masses. Naveen said taking quality health services to the doorstep of the masses in far-flung areas has been a priority of his Government. There are plans to increase the mobile health units (MHUs), he added.He announced the launch of ‘Mamata’ from next month in which expectant mothers would get Rs 5,000 in four phases to ensure healthy delivery. He claimed a decline in the Infant Mortality Rate and the Mother Mortality Ratio in the State with better health attention and food nutrition.As many as 12,000 Anganwadi centres would be set up this year and all students and workers supplied uniforms, Naveen said. He stressed awareness about the welfare schemes so that it trickles down to the beneficiaries. District collectors have been empowered to utilise Chief Minister’s Relief fund to treat poor patients with kidney, cancer and heart diseases, he added.While the health camps would be organised in all 147 constituencies, mobile health units would be doubled under the Swasthya Sanjog (health connectivity) scheme.Health Minister Prasanna Acharya admitted that poor and tribal people in the interior and inaccessible pockets die without timely treatment and assured to double the MHUs in all districts. Periodical camps will be organised in remote pockets to diagnose and treat patients. Urban Development Minister Sarada Prasad Nayak, Health and Family Welfare Secretary Anu Garg, RN Pali MLA Subrat Tarai and Sundargarh collector Rupa Roshan Sahu also spoke.Naveen inaugurated hostel buildings at the SK DAV Polytechnic and UGIE campuses, Tehsil office building and laid the foundation stone of the Chhend police station. Congress, BJP protest visit Around 500 Congress and 276 BJP workers were taken into preventive custody on Wednesday even as they planned to wave black flags at the convoy of Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik. Describing Naveen’s presence at the health programme as a “farce”, Rourkela District Congress Committee (RDCC) president Nihar Ray questioned the intention of the State Government in depriving majority of Insured Persons (IPs) of Sundargarh district by finalising the location of the ESIC’s MCH at Bhubaneswar. Rourkela never got the promised government Medical College & Hospital (MCH) even as the Government settled for a private Hi-tech MCH, he added. Ray criticised the BJD Government for lack of progress in campus works of Biju Patnaik University of Technology (BPUT) and its vacillation in setting up the second bridge over the Brahmani river at Rourkela.The Congress leadership was annoyed with the Sundargarh district administration for not inviting the party’s Sundargarh MP Hemanand Biswal and Zilla Parishad chairperson Serofina Topno to the health programme under the National Rural Health Mission. BJP leader Dhiren Senapati had the same views. He also criticised the police for gagging them.
Comments
0 comment