Emphasis on expanding health services in rural Delhi: Sheila

New Delhi, Sep 30 (UNI) Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit today said her government has been striving hard to provide reliable and advanced medical care to people at their doorstep with a thrust on expanding health services in the rural areas.

''The Government has been concentrating on rural Delhi as villagers have to rush to various hospitals situated at far away places,'' Ms Dikshit said after laying foundation of a 200-bedded hospital at Chhattarpur.

Addressing a huge gathering at the function, presided over by Health Minister Yoganand Shastri and attended by Local MP Sajjan Kumar, Local MLA Balram Tanwar and Principal Secretary (Health) Rakesh Behari, Ms Dikshit said, ''the government has been concentrating on expansion of health infrastructure in rural Delhi where it has already commissioned 12 hospitals.'' The Chief Minister said the government was presently in process of constructing 17 new hospitals with an aim to provide better healthcare in all parts of the city.

The government has been constructing hospitals at Kanti Nagar, Nasipur, Dwarka, Kokiwala Bagh. The ones at Vikas Puri, Ambedkar Nagar, Siraspur,Burari, Madipur, Jwalapuri, Lawrence Road, Sarita Vihar, Bamnauli, Bapraula and Molarband are also in pipeline and construction work would start very soon.

Present hospitals in Delhi have combined strength of over 15,000 beds. It is proposed to add more than 3,000 beds in the coming years.

She said the hospitals here have been developed as per international standards. The hospitals are attracting foreigners as they rely on treatment in the capital city. The advanced treatment is being provided to them at reasonable charges.

The new hospital would be able to cater the needs of residents from number of villages, unauthorised colonies and even localities situated near the Delhi-Haryana border in the neighbouring state of Haryana.

UNI AR GL VC2008