The Delhi Cabinet on Tuesday approved a proposal to increase the bed capacity of an under-construction hospital in Burari, envisioned as a modern, green building equipped with the latest facilities, to 768.
The Cabinet, in its meeting chaired by Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, also approved doubling of financial incentives for Accredited Social Health Activists (ASHA) workers.
“The Cabinet approved the department of health’s proposal for the revised estimate of ₹265.80 crore for increasing the capacity to 768 beds from the earlier proposal of 200 beds at the under-construction new hospital at Burari,” said a government statement.
Structural adjustment
According to the information provided by the Public Works Department (PWD), 85% of the hospital structure has been completed so far, it said. “The project has been reviewed and it was decided that some structural adjustment is required to accommodate more number of beds in this new hospital, which will provide health care to the residents of Delhi,” the statement said.
The new hospital would be a seven-storeyed structure and the latest proposal of having 568 more beds will be achieved with a revised estimate of ₹265.80 crore instead of ₹200 crore estimated earlier.
“Salient features of the under-construction building include a barrier-free environment to cater to the needs of physically-challenged persons for which specific changes in building designs have been done. The modern building with all the latest facilities would be energy-efficient and is a green building aimed at reducing the dependence on electric lighting and air-conditioning. Approximately 1,700 posts will have to be created for making this new hospital functional,” it said.
The proposal to double the incentives for ASHA workers, with the core incentive now being doubled from ₹1,500 to ₹3,000 was also approved. Apart from the core incentive, added incentives in different identified categories have also been doubled.
ASHA workers
“The previous financial enhancement for ASHA workers was provided in February 2016 and the Cabinet approved the need for further enhancement given the increase in cost of living. In order to support ASHAs during pregnancy, it has been decided to provide them a maternity benefit of ₹2,000 per month for a period of six months during the perinatal period,” the statement added.
