Union Minister for Health and Family Welfare Mansukh Mandaviya’s response to the territorial administration’s request to start a Medical University in Puducherry was positive, Minister for Public Works K. Lakshminarayanan has said.
Lt Governor Tamilisai Soundararajan, Chief Minister N. Rangasamy, Speaker R. Selvam, Minister for Home A. Namassivayam, other Ministers and officials held a separate meeting with Mr. Mandaviya during his one-day trip to Puducherry on Saturday to discuss issues pertaining to the health sector in the Union Territory.
One of the key demands made to the Union Health Minister was about sanction from Centre to set up a medical university, he said.
Ms. Soundararajan-led delegation briefed the Union Minister that currently the Union Territory produced around 1,500 medical graduates every year from the existing nine medical colleges.
“We informed him about the necessity to start a university which will ultimately give some sort of control over the medical colleges. He sounded positive and asked us to prepare a report for further consideration,” Mr. Lakshminaraynanan told The Hindu.
The administration also sought permission and funds from the Centre to establish a full-fledged radiotherapy unit at the Government Medical College. The government had planned to provide cancer treatment for patients at the medical college, he added..
The Centre had been requested to provide a sum of ₹77 crore to construct a three-storey building for setting up cancer unit and procure medical equipment such as linear accelerator, brachytherapy, CT-simulator , PET-CT facility, he said.
The government also sought financial assistance to the tune of ₹200 crore to set up a state-of-the-art de-addiction centre in the outskirts of the town. The Centre’s assistance was also sought to include 74,000 more eligible families under Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana, the Minister said.
A detailed memorandum regarding the subjects had been submitted to the Union Minister, he added.
