Etawah, March 6 (UNI) Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Wednesday said that there is no room for exclusive, pick and choose approach in the double engine government, which obstructs development and tarnishes the image of a society.
Speaking after inaugurating a 500-bed Super Speciality Block at UP Medical Sciences University in Saifai, the Chief Minister said that previously the mere names of Saifai and Etawah were enough to scare a person. “However, today youths from all over the country are coming to the cities to study medicine.”
Mentioning an anecdote from his own life, he said that once while travelling to Kanpur from Agra he was stopped by the police on the pretext that travelling at night to the city could be risky, adding that the fear no longer exists in these cities.
Yogi appealed to the doctors of the University of Medical Sciences to attend to as many patients as possible. “Every patient provides a new learning experience for the doctor,” he said.
In addition to opening a 500-bed Super Speciality Block at the UP University of Medical Sciences, the CM inaugurated and laid the foundation stone of 37 development projects worth Rs 147 crores in the Etawah district. It included inauguration of 24 projects worth Rs 34.66 crores and laying the foundation stone of 13 projects worth Rs 112.59 crores.
He mentioned the transformation taking place in rural areas in the wake of the ongoing construction of new medical colleges and hospitals in different districts of the state. “From 1947 to 2017, there were only 12 medical colleges in UP. Presently, 45 districts boast of having medical colleges, while construction is underway in 20 more,” Yogi said.
Drawing a similarity with the situation at the centre, he pointed out that until 1998 India had only one All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS). “However, under the leadership of Atal Bihari Vajpayee, six new AIIMS were set up in the country. The number of AIIMS has increased to 22 under Prime Minister Modi’s leadership today,” the Chief Minister said.
Yogi paid tribute to former CM of the state Mulayam Singh Yadav and credited him with the construction of Medical Sciences University in his village. However, he highlighted that the inauguration of the Medical University was merely symbolic, marked by the breaking of a coconut, and an allocation of only a nominal sum of Rs 1 lakh despite the requirement of Rs 500 crore.
He described the Medical Science University as ‘Mini India’ where students and professionals from across the country come to study and engage in professional activities.
The CM informed that out of the intended issuance of 10 crore Ayushman cards to the residents of the state, 5 crore cards have already been distributed.
Discussing improvements in the functioning of the Health Department’s Dial 108 and Dial 102 systems, Yogi said that the response time, which was previously between 45 minutes to half an hour, has now been reduced to 9 to 10 minutes. He mentioned that all ambulances are now monitored from Lucknow.
He accused the previous government of not accepting the offer of 150 cardiac vans from Prime Minister Modi in 2014. “However, after our government came into power in 2017, the state received 150 Advance Life Support ambulances within a month, followed by an additional 100 ambulances. Subsequently, four Advanced Life Support ambulances were provided in each district, benefiting thousands of people,” the CM said.
He further elaborated on how his government, through inter-departmental coordination involving 13-14 departments, has significantly curtailed the prevalence of encephalitis. Yogi also emphasised the significance of doctors’ interactions with patients in ensuring effective treatment, while assuring provision of state-of-the-art facilities by the government.
The CM said, “Every patient represents a potential research opportunity, and doctors should document their findings accordingly. Your research endeavours will prove invaluable for humanity, particularly in third world countries,” he added.