Robotic surgery to start at Ner Chowk govt hospital from this year, says CM
Approves Rs 40 crore for MRI machine, Cath Lab | Lays foundation stone of students’ hostel
Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu today said that robotic surgery would be launched at Shri Lal Bahadur Shastri Government Medical College and Hospital at Ner Chowk in Mandi district later this year. He presided over the IRIS-2025 programme at the institution.
The Chief Minister sanctioned Rs 28 crore for the installation of a new MRI machine at Ner Chowk hospital, which was expected to be set up within the next two months. He also approved Rs 12 crore for a Cath Lab (Rs 9 crore has already been released) for the hospital. He said that the use of modern technology was essential for improving patient care. He added that robotic surgeries were already being conducted at the hospitals at Chamiyana and Tanda, where 45 procedures had been successfully performed using robotic systems.
Sukhu said that outdated medical equipment hampered the efficiency of doctors. He added that the state government was working to replace all obsolete machinery in hospitals and improve healthcare delivery in Himachal Pradesh.
To modernise diagnostic services, the Chief Minister announced that AIIMS-like smart diagnostic laboratories would be set up in all medical colleges of the state, where 100 tests could be conducted from a single blood sample. A sum of Rs 75 crore had been sanctioned for this initiative.
He said, “To address the shortage of skilled manpower for healthcare, the government has increased the number of seats in medical colleges and sanctioned 38 new posts in the Department of Emergency Medicine.”
Sukhu also took the opportunity to criticise the previous BJP government, which, he alleged, had misused state funds, hampering the development of the healthcare sector. He said that had the funds been used wisely, the medical services in Himachal would have been significantly better.
On the education front, Sukhu said that the government had taken major policy reforms to improve quality. As a result, Himachal Pradesh moved from the 21st place to the 5th position in the national education rankings. He credited teachers with this success.
“The government is also establishing Rajiv Gandhi day-boarding schools in every constituency, introducing English-medium instruction from Class I and starting 100 CBSE-affiliated government schools,” he added.
The Chief Minister also laid the foundation stone of a students’ hostel to be constructed at a cost of Rs 5.98 crore. He inaugurated five healthcare-related projects totalling Rs 8.37 crore, including State Midwifery Training Institute and Skill Lab (Rs 80 lakh), Nutrition Rehabilitation Centre (Rs 6 lakh), Comprehensive Lactation Management Centre Rs 76 lakh and an Endoscopy Unit Rs 23 lakh.
He also announced Rs 5 lakh for students for organising cultural activities and shared motivational views about his political journey, encouraging them to persevere through failures. He was accompanied by Health Minister Dhani Ram Shandil, MLAs Chander Shekhar, Anil Sharma, Inder Singh Gandhi, former ministers Kaul Singh Thakur, Prakash Chaudhary, former Chief Parliamentary Secretary Sohan Lal Thakur and medical college Principal DK Verma.
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