In a rebuttal to the Chief Minister Harish Rawat, crying foul of the Union Ministers swarming in the State, sans any concrete developmental announcement for Uttarakhand, the Union Health Minister JP Nadda who is also BJP’s State election committee in-charge said on Friday that the Centre has allocated Rs 266 crore to Uttarkahand under National Health Mission (NHM).
“We have already released Rs 197 crore to the State Government. But the State Government has spent just Rs 97 crore so far,” he said, adding that the CM should focus on duly spending the funds meant for important projects, remaining unused, instead of carrying on with the meaningless foundation unveiling spree.
Besides, he made it clear that unless and until the State Government issues the utilisation certificates (UC) for the money already released the rest of the funds would not come. “You would get fresh tranches only after you comply with the norms of releasing UCs,” he said. “Raising hackles over the non-release of funds would not help the State Government,” Nadda added.
He further said that since the foundation of All India Institute of Medical Science (AIIMS) was laid in 1960, things had kept on vegetating till the NDA Government under Atal Bihari Vajpayee had sanctioned six new AIIMSs, including the one in Rishikesh. “However, unfortunately for the State, things have been stagnating. Narendra Modi on becoming the PM sanctioned 11 new AIIMS. Things are progressing fast, though Uttarakhand remains where it was,” the Union Health Minister said.
He said they have been providing free medical treatment to the women since the time they conceive and till the babies, delivered, grow up. “ We are going to open a State Cancer Institute at an estimated cost of Rs 120 crore. Besides, a tertiary care cancer centre would come up in Uttarkhand at a cost of Rs 45 crore,” he said.
Stressing on large-scale vaccination for the children, he said that now 12 kinds of vaccination are being administered to the children whereas it was seven earlier. “Out of 70 lakh children remaining out of bounds for the vaccination programmes, we have administered vaccination to 55 lakh of them,” he said.
He said that his ministry is committed to proving the medicines for the critical ailments, including those related to heart, at cheaper rates. “Currently, we are providing such medicine at prices 60 percent less than what they were earlier,” he said, stressing that they were acting hard to revamp the health care facilities in tune with the pledge of the Prime Minister Narendra Modi.