Pravash Pradhan
Post News Network
New Delhi, May 8: Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, who met Union health minister Jagat Prasad Nadda here Friday, demanded Central aid for setting up of new medical colleges in five districts of Orissa with 75 per cent of Central share amounting to Rs 1,873 crore. The districts are: Koraput, Bolangir, Puri, Balasore and Baripada.
Patnaik also stressed the need to set up a Super Specialty Institute of Mental Health and Neuro Sciences at Cuttack on the lines of NIMHANS, Bangalore to cater to the need of the eastern region. The state government has identified 18.33 acres of land for the purpose at Ramdaspur near Barang in Cuttack district.
The Chief Minister urged the Union minister to take steps to set up a drug testing laboratory in Sambalpur to strengthen drug regulatory system in the state. This apart, he also demanded establishment of Central Cosmetic Testing Laboratory to facilitate testing of cosmetics manufactured in the eastern region including Orissa, Jharakhand, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, West Bengal and Assam, setting up of a Regional Institute of Para-Medical Sciences in Bhubaneswar and upgradation of the existing Acharya Harihar Regional Centre at Cuttack to State Cancer Institute with one-time financial assistance up to Rs 120 crore.
Patnaik also urged the minister to set up Central Institute of Yoga and Naturopathy in Khurdha. He stressed the need to enhance grant-in-aid under Rashtriya Arogya Nidhi to Rs 10 crore per annum to provide financial assistance to poor families for treatment of dreaded diseases.