Punjab to invest Rs 2,500 crore for basic amenities in villages

Amritsar, Oct 27 (UNI) Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal today announced that a plan outlay of Rs 2500 crores has been made by the state government to provide safe drinking water and adequate sanitation in far flung rural areas of the state.

Mr Badal stated this while addressing the convocation of National Academy of Medical Sciences here today at the Guru Nanak Bhawan Auditorium of the Guru Nanak Dev University.

He on this occasion conferred 'Scrolls' upon fellows and members of the Academy in recognition of their scientific contributions. As a token of appreciation, Mr Badal also presented a grant of Rs 10 lakh to the Academy on behalf of the Punjab government.

Speaking on the occasion, the Chief Minister said that the state government had decided to establish Drug Dependence Treatment Centres of 10-20 beds each at all District Hospitals in the state which would be interlinked with a State Level Drug Dependence Treatment Centre which was being established here.

Networking of the medical colleges with the District Hospitals through tele-education and telemedicine linkages with the PGI, Chandigarh is being supported by the National Academy of Medical Scienes in partnership with the Punjab Government.

He expressed the hope that the fruitful interaction of the National Academy of Medical Sciences would help the growth and development of healthcare delivery services and enhanced quality of teaching and learning in the medical institutions in Punjab.

Emeritus President of National Academy of Medical Sciences Prof J S Bajaj in his address said "Rapid advances in technology have widened the hiatus between what is being offered by modern science and what is affordable and available at the level of the individual and the community." He said population growth continues to pose a formidable challenge and diseases of health transition are showing an increasing prevalence.

"It is being increasingly recognised that health is not just a medical or biological paradigm, but is also a social and devedopmental entity," he said.

Mr Bajaj on this occasion recommended a model of multiprofessional education, in which students of Ayurveda, Unani, Homoepathy, Naturopathy and Yoga would be involved along with others to foster a sense of comradeship and mutual respect between different systems of medicine.

"The artificial divide between the modern system of medicine and the traditional system needs to be progressively demolished so that all traditional systems constitute a unified faculty of complementary medicine interacting closely with the conventional faculty of mainstream medicine." In America, the field of alternative and complementary medicine is growing rapidly and includes the treatment of many health conditions, he added.

President NAMS Dr Premaramachandran, while giving details about the activities of the Academy said "Through its Intramural and Extramural Continuing Medical Education programmes NAMS has played a very important role in equipping the health care professionals to cope with the emerging health problems in the country.

GNDU vice chancellor Jai Rup Singh on this occasion honoured the Chief Minister, Prof Bajaj and Prof Dr Premaramachandran by presenting them mementos.

UNI