Shimla: Chief Minister Thakur Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu today inaugurated Blocks 1 and 2 of Phase IV of the Armsdale Building at the Himachal Pradesh Secretariat. Approximately Rs. 9 crore has been spent on this construction project.
On the occasion, the Chief Minister said that infrastructure expansion was essential alongside development. The Secretariat building had been expanded, and offices would be shifted to the new premises shortly.
Replying to questions from media persons thereafter, the Chief Minister said that the number of postgraduate (PG) medical seats across the state’s six government medical colleges had been increased from 277 to 597, marking a historic addition of 320 seats.
The Chief Minister said that the state government was placing special emphasis on strengthening government medical colleges, expanding opportunities for PG medical education and improving the availability of specialised healthcare services.
Sukhu said that the increase in PG medical seats would provide young doctors with greater opportunities to pursue specialised medical education within the state. It would also increase the availability of trained specialist doctors in government hospitals.
He said that the state government was committed to providing specialised medical services to people close to their homes. Along with strengthening the infrastructure of healthcare institutions, the government was ensuring the adoption of modern technology.
Radiodiagnosis services had also been strengthened and efforts were underway to bring the waiting period for these services down to zero. He said that the use of technology in healthcare services, combined with the availability of specialists, would help the people of Himachal Pradesh save approximately Rs. 1,000 crore annually, as they would no longer need to travel outside the state to access specialised medical services.
