CM unveils 103cr medical college expansion projects

Raipur: Chief minister Vishnu Deo Sai on Monday laid the foundation stone for health infrastructure projects worth over Rs 103 crore at Pt Jawaharlal Nehru Memorial Medical College, Raipur, including a 200-seat hostel, expansion of the state cancer institute and residential quarters for doctors and staff.Addressing medical students and healthcare professionals, Sai said strengthening healthcare infrastructure was essential for building a “developed Chhattisgarh” and urged young doctors to serve in rural and tribal regions instead of limiting their careers to cities.The projects include a modern 200-seat hostel for students, expansion of the cancer block from the second to the sixth floor with new wards, ICUs, operation theatres and laboratories, besides additional hostel facilities for girl students with a library and recreation hall.Sai said the hostel project fulfilled a long-pending demand raised by students during his previous visit to the medical college. He also said the Centre had extended support for several health initiatives in the state and expressed hope that Chhattisgarh would also get an All India Institute of Ayurveda in the future.Referring to Bastar, the chief minister said healthcare outreach in remote areas had expanded significantly and appealed to graduating medical students to contribute to improving healthcare access across the state.

Health minister Shyam Bihari Jaiswal said the state was witnessing rapid expansion of medical education and healthcare infrastructure, citing the approval of five new medical colleges, expansion of nursing and physiotherapy institutions and ongoing work on a 100-bed yoga and naturopathy hospital.