Cabinet approval on September 15 2020

On September 15, 2020, Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi has given its approval to the following:

–Cabinet approves establishment of new All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) at Darbhanga, Bihar

In order to boost health infrastructure in Bihar, the Central Government has given its consent for the establishment of a new All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) under the Pradhan Mantri Swasthya Suraksha Yojana (PMSSY) at Darbhanga, Bihar with an outlay of Rs.1264 crore. In this regard, the Cabinet also approved the creation of post of Director in the basic pay of Rs 2,25,000/- (fixed) plus NPA (however pay + NPA would not exceed Rs 2,37,500/-) for AIIMS.

• The project is likely to be completed within a period of 48 months.
• Its construction, operations and maintenance expenses are full funded by Central Government.
• The objective behind this project is to establish the new AIIMS as Institution of National Importance for providing quality tertiary healthcare, medical education, nursing education and research in the Region.

Point to be noted:

It should be noted that six new AIIMS taken up under Phase-I of PMSSY and recurring cost on these Institutions shall be met through Grant-in-Aid to them from Plan Budget Head of PMSSY of Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW).

Key Points regarding new AIIMS:

Features: The AIIMS in Darbhanga will have 100 UG (MBBS) seats and 60 B.Sc (Nursing) seats. PG (Post Graduate) and DM (Doctorate of Medicine)/ M.Ch (Master of Chirurgiae/Surgery) Super-specialty courses will also be started in due course.

• It will have 15-20 Super Specialty Departments and 750 hospital beds and can cater to around 2000 OPD patients per day and around 1000 IPD patients per month,

Employment Generation: This project will generate employment for nearly 3000 persons in various faculty & non-faculty posts. Also, there will be indirect employment due to facilities like shopping centre, canteens, etc. 

• Jobs will also be created in construction phase.

Benefits: The AIIMS would not only provide the much needed super specialty / tertiary health care at affordable costs, to the poor and needy, it would also make available trained medical manpower for the National Health Mission (NHM) / other Health  Programmes of MoHFW.  

• It will also create a trained pool of teaching resources / faculty which can impart quality medical education.

About Pradhan Mantri Swasthya Suraksha Yojana (PMSSY):

Announced in 2003, PMSSY, focuses on providing affordable/ reliable tertiary healthcare services and also to augment facilities for quality medical education in the country.

It has two components:-

-Setting up of AIIMS like Institutions: A total 22 new AIIMS have been announced so far under this component. 6 AIIMS are already functional & 16 more AIIMS are announced. Out of which 15 AIIMS are approved by the Cabinet.

 -Upgradation of Government Medical College(GMC)/ Institutions: 75 Projects have been considered under this component under 6 phases.

About Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW):
Union Minister– Dr. Harsh Vardhan (Constituency- Chandni Chowk, Delhi)
Minister of State (MoS)– Ashwini Kumar Choubey

–Cabinet approves Haryana Orbital Rail Corridor Project from Palwal to Sonipat via Sohna-Manesar- Kharkhauda

The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi has given its approval to the Haryana Orbital Rail Corridor Project from Palwal to Sonipat via Sohna-Manesar-Kharkhauda, benefitting Haryana’s district of Palwal, Nuh, Gurugram, Jhajjar and Sonipat, at an estimated cost of Rs. 5,617 crore. The project is likely to be completed in 5 years.

• Objective: The project focuses on decongesting National Capital Region (NCR) by facilitating diversion of traffic not meant for Delhi.
• Implementation: The project will be implemented by Haryana Rail Infrastructure Development Corporation Limited (HRIDC), a Joint Venture (JV) company set up by Ministry of Railways with Government of Haryana with a joint participation of Ministry of Railways, Government of Haryana and private stakeholders.

Key Points:

-This new railway line will have connectivity with all existing railway routes originating from Delhi and passing through Haryana.

-This will also have connectivity with the Dedicated Freight Corridor (DFC) network resulting in reduction of cost and time of transportation for EXIM (export-import) traffic from NCR to ports of India

-This Rail Line will start from Palwal and end at existing Harsana Kalan station (On Delhi-Ambala section).  This will also give connectivity enroute to existing Patli Station (On Delhi-Rewari line), Sultanpur station (On Garhi Harsaru-Farukhnagar Line) and Asaudha Station (On Delhi Rohtak Line).

-The project will connect unserved areas of the state of Haryana, thereby boosting economic and social activities. 

-It will also facilitate affordable and faster commuter travel, long distance travel in different directions from Gurugram and the industrial regions of Manesar, Sohna, Farukhnagar, Kharkhauda and Sonipat.

-Approximately 20,000 passengers each day will be travelling through this line and 50 Million Tonnes goods traffic would also be carried out every year.

About Haryana:
Chief Minister– Manohar Lal Khattar
Capital– Chandigarh

Recent Related News:

In August 2020, The Central Government has approved the proposal for leasing out three airports namely Jaipur, Guwahati and Thiruvananthapuram airports of Airports Authority of India (AAI) under Public Private Partnership (PPP) to Adani Enterprises Ltd. for Operation, Management and Development.