Putting gender welfare at the forefront, the Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Friday proposed to set up one-stop centres, for crisis management and rehabilitation of victims of sexual assault, in the Government hospitals of each district. According to the Minister, victims will be provided proper medical care along with legal and psycho-social counselling and support in a secure gender-friendly environment at these centres. As per plans, three such centres would become functional in the next three months at Deen Dayal Hospital, Guru Teg Bahadur Hospital and Sanjay Gandhi Memorial Hospital.
Jaitley allocated a total of Rs 2,724 crore for health sector in the Budget for Delhi during the current fiscal, which is approximately 16.3 per cent of plan outlay (excluding Centrally Sponsored Schemes), which is Rs 16,700 crore.
The Government is also enhancing the number of hospital beds. “Hospital projects for Rs 940 crore are currently under execution which would provide over 1,400 additional beds. Through concerted efforts, over 900 doctors and 1,100 nurses have been recruited for various health facilities in the past few months,” said Jaitley.
Keeping in mind the need for new healthcare facilities and services, the Minister announced the setting up of a new medical college with 100 seats in Rohini. He said, “Efforts are being made to ensure that the first batch of students is admitted by next year.”
Besides, 50 dialysis centres will be opened to provide free dialysis to poor patients suffering from kidney failure. To offer prompt trauma care, 110 new ambulances fitted with state-of-the-art life support equipment will be inducted in the Centralised Accident and Trauma Services (CATS) fleet.
Considering the overload on the Forensic Science laboratory, the Government has additionally proposed setting up of three more Forensic Science laboratories for which land at Sheikh Sarai, Rohini and village Sayurpur has been purchased at a cost of Rs 11.25 crore.