Gandhinagar (Gujarat) [India], January 3 : Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel on Saturday conducted a holistic review of the implementation and current status of health welfare schemes reaching the state's remote, border, and rural areas, as well as talukas, during a high-level meeting held in Gandhinagar.
It was stated in the meeting with the Chief Minister that construction work on five medical colleges, hospitals, and hostels in Rajpipla, Morbi, Navsari, Godhra, and Porbandar will be completed by December 2026. As a result, people in remote tribal villages and in Saurashtra's distant villages will be able to access advanced healthcare services nearby more easily, an official release from the Chief Minister's office stated.
The Chief Minister issued necessary directions during the meeting, following detailed discussions and a thorough review of the progress of key centrally sponsored schemes launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi with the public health-orientated vision of "Healthcare for All".
In particular, the Prime Minister's approach of holistic healthcare for public health and wellness, including Ayurvedic and homoeopathic systems of treatment up to the rural level, is being realised in Gujarat through an extensive network of 7,733 Health and Wellness Centres. Details in this regard were also presented in the meeting.
In this context, according to the release, the Chief Minister reviewed the progress of construction of 410 Urban Health Centres, modern laboratories in 33 districts, and Critical Care Blocks in 32 districts under the Pradhan Mantri Ayushman Bharat Health Infrastructure Mission (PM-ABHIM) and issued directions to ensure that these works are completed within the stipulated timeframe. In addition, the Additional Chief Secretary of the Health Department informed the meeting that new buildings of 302 sub-centres and 23 Primary Health Centres in rural areas have been completed.
The Chief Minister provided guidance to ensure more accurate, holistic, and systematic implementation of the Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana-MA in the state through transparent, fast, and AI-based technology.
The meeting also reviewed the provision of nutritional assistance to more than 3.44 lakh mothers under the Pradhan Mantri Matru Vandana Yojana, the registration of 2.69 crore members under the Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana-"MA", and the availability of cashless treatment up to Rs. 10 lakh, the release stated.
Continuing Gujarat's tradition of leading in the implementation of the Prime Minister's welfare schemes, the Chief Minister urged the state to remain at the forefront in effectively implementing the 10 Centrally Sponsored health schemes to realise the vision of Swasth Gujarat.
This review meeting, the release stated, was attended by Additional Chief Secretary of the Health Department Rajeev Topno, Principal Secretary to the Chief Minister Sanjeev Kumar, Additional Principal Secretary Dr Vikrant Pandey, Health Commissioners for rural and urban areas Harshad Patel and Dr Ratankanwar Gadhvi Charan, along with Additional Health Directors and senior officials.