Kozhikode: The Union Health Ministry will sanction Rs 150 crore for upgrading the existing government medical colleges in the state in addition to starting several other projects to improve the health sector, said Union Health Minister Jagat Prakash Nadda here on Thursday. The central ministry had already sanctioned Rs 25 cr for the tertiary cancer centre in Kozhikode in addition to a trauma care unit in Alappuzha, which will be opened shortly, Mr Nadda told reporters at the Press Club.
Mr Nadda along with Union Labour Minister Bandaru Dattatreya was in the city to celebrate the second anniversary of the Narendra Modi government along the with the BJP activists of the state. “The Medical Council of India had recommended to the ministry to upgrade 58 district hospitals in the country to medical colleges. But Kerala was not in the scene as the state already had medical colleges in its various districts,” he said.
Hence it was decided to develop the existing medical colleges in the state and raise all the departments and blocks to multi-specialty blocks. Kerala is yet to express its willingness for the central government’s free dialysis project worth Rs 9000 crore. “Already, six states have expressed their willingness and Kerala is welcome to join it any time,” he added.
Mr Bandaru Dattatreya said that the central government will upgrade the Employees State Insurance Corporation (ESIC) hospitals and dispensaries in all states in the coming months for the benefit of skilled and unskilled employees. As a first step, dispensaries in Kozhikode, including Mavoor, Eranhipalam, Mangavu, Kunnathupalam, Chalappuram and Pappinassery in Kannur district will be upgraded.
Steps will be taken to speed up the process of supplying Unrecognized Worker Identification Number that will ensure social security benefits to such workers. The ministry has also decided to increase the minimum pension to Rs 1000 from Rs 400. The government has already issued Universal Account Number to 4.08 crore workers in the organized sector so far, he added.
