JJ CORRESPONDENT
Jammu, Apr 18: In the recently announced budget, the Central Government has sanctioned an amount of Rs 1,484.72 crore for Health and Medical Education sector to be expended under Capital Expenditure for 2022-23.
A government official here said that continuing the wheel of unprecedented development in health infrastructure, the Center government has allocated a whopping budget for the health sector which reflects the commitment and concern of Prime Minister Narendra Modi towards growth and welfare of people of Jammu and Kashmir.
Some of the worth mentioning health infrastructure projects included two new AIIMS with a project cost of Rs 4000 crore one each at Jammu and Kashmir divisions, seven new Government Medical Colleges being established with a total outlay of Rs 1595 crore, ten new Nursing Colleges being set up with an approximate cost of Rs. 60 crore besides two State Cancer institutes worth Rs 240 crore, coming up one each at Jammu and Kashmir division, he added.
He said that under AB PMJAY SEHAT scheme, universal health coverage scheme in convergence with Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (AB-PMJAY) to provide free of cost insurance cover up to Rs 5 lakh per household per year is progressing smoothly.
Nearly, 55.56 lakh beneficiaries have already been registered under the scheme while 1,592 medical packages, as approved under AB-PMJAY, are accessible to the beneficiaries of Jammu and Kashmir SEHAT scheme, he said adding, “it is expected that the pace of coverage will further be accelerated during 2022-23 to achieve the set target with the objective to cover all the residents of Jammu and Kashmir under this insurance cover.”
An action plan has been framed to bring down the Infant Mortality Rate (IMR) to a single digit for which necessary provision has been earmarked under the National Health Mission (NHM) budget.
The government of Jammu and Kashmir intends to start the first batch of MBBS classes in both the new Medical colleges at Handwara (Kupwara) and Udhampur during academic session 2022-23, thereby increasing the overall intake capacity to 1,300 MBBS seats in the Union Territory, said an official. UNI
