SHIMLA: Chief Minister Thakur Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu said that the state government would provide Non-Practicing Allowance (NPA) to super-speciality doctors to further strengthen healthcare services in Himachal Pradesh. He was presiding over a review meeting of the Health Department on Thursday evening.
The Chief Minister said that the state government was committed to providing quality healthcare services to patients within the state and there was no shortage of funds for modernizing the health sector. He stated that several significant initiatives have been undertaken by the state government during the last three and a half years to strengthen healthcare infrastructure and services and these efforts have started yielding positive results.
Sukhu said that the government held several rounds of discussions with doctors regarding healthcare reforms. In the coming months, he would personally visit various health institutions and interact with doctors to formulate a future roadmap for further improvements in the sector. He said that all medical colleges in the state were being strengthened by providing adequate staff and advanced medical equipment at par with AIIMS, New Delhi. The state government was investing around Rs. 3,000 crore in the procurement of modern medical machinery and equipment. He further said that in the districts without medical colleges, facilities at zonal and regional hospitals were being upgraded to provide better healthcare services to patients.
The Chief Minister said that recruitments were being undertaken to address shortages of doctors, paramedical staff and technicians in the health institutions. He added that due to the government’s efforts, robotic surgery has been introduced in the state, benefiting patients significantly. Earlier, patients had to travel outside Himachal Pradesh and incur substantial expenses to avail such advanced facility.
Sukhu also directed the Health Department to categorize all Community Health Centres (CHCs) based on population coverage so that staffing and infrastructure could be provided according to actual requirements. This, he said, would ensure the availability of quality healthcare services closer to people’s homes. He also reviewed the status of ongoing recruitment processes in the Health department.
