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During the unveiling of the ex-PM Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s statue at AIIMS Bhubaneswar, the Union Minister Harsh Vardhan announced the plans to convert 75 district hospitals to medical colleges. Plans are also being made to establish health centres under the Ayushman Bharat Scheme.
During the unveiling ceremony of the statue for the former PM Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s 95th Birth Anniversary at AIIMS Bhubaneswar, the Union Minister Harsh Vardhan announced the Centre’s plans to convert hospitals to medical colleges.
In his statements, Minister Vardhan stated that the proposal has been made to convert 75 different hospitals in districts across the nation into medical colleges. The conversion has been planned to be completed in phases.
During the ceremony, the Minister stated that the goal for the conversion of hospitals to medical colleges has been kept at 49 hospitals in the next 4-5 years. Among the hospitals, 6 have been included from districts in Odisha.
Earlier in the year, the Odisha Government had sent in proposals for establishing two more medical colleges in the state, which has been put into consideration by the Central Government as well.
Currently, there have been 10 districts in Odisha, who are eligible to receive a medical college, official sources state. The districts include Rayagada, Nuapada, Nabarangapur, Malkangiri, Koraput, Kandhamal, Kalahandi, Gajapati, Dhenkanal and Balangir in Odisha, out which 6 districts will be selected for the medical colleges.
In other news, Minister Vardhan also appealed to the Odisha Government to enforce the Ayushman Bharat Scheme throughout the state. He stated that the appeals have been made to the state government to implement the scheme so that the poor in the state can avail free healthcare services.
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Odisha, along with West Bengal and Telangana are among the states that have not enforced the Ayushman Bharat Scheme in the hospitals in the state. The Minister declared that the Scheme allows 55 crore people across India to avail free healthcare and treatment.
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The Union Minister also stated that the scheme, till now, has been availed by 70 lakh people who have received free healthcare services from 20,000 hospitals in the span of 1 year. Moreover, plans are being made to establish 1.5 lakh health and wellness centres across the districts in India under the scheme. Out of the total centres, 25,000 centres have already been established.
