State-of-the-art facilities would be provided in the Government Doon Medical College (GDMC) and it would emerge as role model for other medical colleges of the State, said Uttarakhand Chief Minister Harish Rawat while inaugurating the GDMC here on Saturday.
He said that the State Government is determined to strengthen medical sector in the State and new medical colleges at Almora, Pithoragarh, Rudrapur, Bhangwanpur and Kotdwar are on anvil. Rawat hoped that the Almora medical college would get the nod of Medical Council of India (MCI) next year while a 200-bed hospital of medical college at Rudrapur is complete.
The Government has also earmarked land for the proposed medical colleges at Bhagwanpur and Kotdwar. Regretting the fact that the State Government had to take painful decision of merging the Doon hospital and female hospitals (District hospitals) in the medical college for getting the necessary clearance from MCI, the CM accepted that people are facing problems due to this. He said that such painful decisions are taken in the larger public interest and added that Doon hospital and the female hospitals would be disassociated from the medical college and a new associated hospital for the GDMC would be constructed.
Rawat said that one of a better option for building the associated hospital is Mandi complex as it is situated near to the medical college and has sufficient land but for it the mandi has to be shifted to an another place. He said that the State government is working in the direction of opening many Government nursing colleges in state and an AYUSH college in Gauchar in Chamoli district. Similarly a college of Unani system of medication would be opened at Kaliyar in Haridwar district.
The CM said that his Government is determined to provide healthcare facilities to every member of the society and in this endeavor it has increased the medical cover in the Mukkyamantri Swasthya Bima Yojna (MSBY) from Rs 50000 to Rs 1.75 lakh. Referring the Asha workers, Anganwadi workers and Bhojanmatas as symbols of women empowerment in the state, the CM said that the state government is committed for their welfare. He claimed that Uttarakhand is emerging as one of a growing state of India and it should focus on its youth to go ahead.
The Medical education minister, Dinesh Dhanai said that the new medical college would remove the shortage of doctors in mountainous parts of the state. He added that the government would ensure that the students passing out from the government medical college are posted compulsorily in remote and mountainous area for a specific period.
The Mayor of Dehradun Vinod Chamoli said that the land of the slaughter house which is situated near the medical college can be handed over to the GDMC for expansion if the Government finds another place for the slaughter house. The Congress MlAs, Jeet Ram and Rajkumar also spoke on the occasion. The Vice -Chancellor of the HNB medical university Saudan Singh said that the new medical college should focus on capacity building and research.
The Principal of the medical college, Dr Pradeep Bharati Gupta said that college needs more land for development.