NEW DELHI, July 8: The first meeting of the Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s new Cabinet on Thursday took a slew of measures and sanctioned a package of Rs 23,123 crores to upgrade the health infrastructure of the country amid the ongoing 2nd phase of the Covid-19 pandemic.
In April 2020, the Cabinet had approved ₹15,000 crore package for Covid-19 emergency response, which was utilised to the maximum to upgrade the health infrastructure of the country, the new health minister Mansukh Mandaviya said.
“Now we know what challenges we faced during the second wave of the pandemic. So in the second phase, we are announcing a package of about ₹23,123 crore keeping the future in mind,” the new health minister said.
All state governments would be consulted to chart out a future roadmap so that oxygen, beds, crucial medicines do not pose a challenge in front of the country. Out of this ₹23,000 crore, the Centre would give ₹15,000 crore and the states would give ₹8,000 crore, the minister said.
“Can we not use telemedicine? Can we not teleconsultation? All these have been incorporated into this new package. State governments can also use this fund to pool in nursing students to bolster the health infrastructure,” the new minister said.
The new health minister mentioned child health care as he announced the new package which included provision for 20,000 new ICU beds. About 20 per cent of it would be meant for children or be used for a hybrid purpose, both children and adults, the minister said. The package also has the provision for 736 district paediatric care units. The announcement comes amid apprehension that Covid 3rd wave, if it comes in India, might impact children
The package will be implemented within nine months, from July to March, next year, Mandaviya said. “The maximum deadline is of 9 months. We can do this even before the deadline according to the situation,” the health minister said.
The minister explained the details how the package was meant to be utilized:
- Integrated digital platform– telemedicine, teleconsultation
- 736 district paediatric care units
- ₹1 crore for medicine buffer stock at state and district level
- Pooling in medical interns, BSc nursing students at the state level
- 10,000 litres oxygen storage at every district
- Provision for setting up 2.4 lakh beds.
- Provision for setting up 20,000 ICU beds, including 20% for children,
And
- Provision for 150-unit need-based field hospitals comprising 2,500 and 5,000 beds.
Soon after the cabinet meeting, the prime minister also had an exclusive meeting with the new entrants in the cabinet where he is learnt to have emphasized his government’s main motto, “the development of all.”
(Manas Dasgupta)
