Rattled by the overall criticism of the appalling healthcare system in the state, chief minister Mamata Banerjee on Saturday announced a slew of projects, including the creation of seven health districts to upgrade and improve the existing healthcare infrastructure.
Ms Banerjee, who is also the health minister, has allocated Rs 2,000 crores for the healthcare projects out of the Rs 8,000-crore package which her government has received from the Centre for the development of 11 backward districts in the state.
Ms Banerjee said that the Planning Commission had sanctioned Rs 8,000 crores which would be spent for the development and improvement of roads, hospitals and water resources in those districts.
“Out of this, Rs 2,000 crores will be spent in setting up 25 super-speciality hospitals in 11 districts,” she said.
These hospitals will come up in South 24 Parganas, Bankura, Birbhum, South and North Dinajpur, Jalpaiguri, Malda, Murshidabad, Purulia, East and West Midnapore.
Elaborating her plans Ms Banerjee said that seven health districts would be created at Bishnupur, Diamond Harbour, Basirhat, Jhargram, Asansol, Rampurhat and Nandigram. They will be operational by early 2012.
To reduce the state’s high child mortality rate — 40,000 every year — the government has decided to set up six more sick new neo-natal care units (SNCU) at B.C. Roy Hospital for Children, M.R. Bangur Hospital and four district hospitals in Howrah, Malda, Siliguri and Burdwan in addition to six existing ones. The total number of the SNCUs in the state stands at 12 now.
“So far administrative approval has been given for another 24 SNCUs and further approval of 10 more is expected by this financial year. As a result there will be 40 SNCUs by 2012,” she added.
She claimed that in the past six months 3,500 new beds have been added in the state hospitals at a cost of `1,200 crores.
She also set up a high-level task force for “Mother & Child Care” headed by a chairman, Tridib Banerjee, an eminent doctor.
He would be accorded a minister of state status and he would travel to district hospitals to inspect the ground reality, Ms Banerjee explained. Besides, mobile medical units would be set up in eleven blocks of Maoist-hit Jangalmahal.