Health Minister AL Hek today informed the Assembly that the Meghalaya government has initiated the Meghalaya Health System Strengthening Project (MHSSP) in collaboration with the World Bank in which it aims to infuse around Rs 352 crores.
Hek informed that the MHSSP is investing Rs 75 crore in a phased manner to upgrade civil infrastructure in health centres, such as district hospitals, Community Health Centres, Public Health Centres and Sub-Centres.
“Gap analysis was done at the district level in identifying health facilities which require upgrading, renovation and new constructions,” the minister said in his reply to a motion moved by opposition legislator Himalaya Shangpliang.
Hek informed the house that these health facilities were mapped based on various parameters, such as population, time to reach the nearest health facility, hard to reach areas accessibility and different performance indicators.
“The objective of the MHSSP is to strengthen the basic public health functionality and to improve access to quality healthcare for the people of Meghalaya,” Hek said.
Earlier, Shangpliang said that for a state like Meghalaya, where more than 70 percent of the population resides in rural areas, it is more important to provide services in viable areas accessible to the entire population and should not be concentrated only in a few health centres.
“These public health facilities have always faced shortfalls in terms of infrastructure and manpower,” the Congress MLA said.
Shangpliang also urged the government to expedite the construction of medical colleges in Tura and Shillong.
With the planned creation of more health centres in the state, there will be a need for more healthcare workers and, thus, the need for more training institutes.
The opposition legislator also raised the issue of the Meghalaya EMRI Workers Union.
Recently, the emergency workers had submitted a memorandum to Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma appealing to the government not to extend the agreement with GVK for running the ambulance service when it expires on March 31.
“I understand the Meghalaya EMRI workers are time and again undergoing a lot of stress and strain due to mismanagement by GVK, resulting in less manpower, fewer ambulances and depriving them of allowances and basic entitlements,” Shangpliang added.
