Amritsar, August 8, 2024 (Yes Punjab News)
MP Gurjeet Singh Aujla today raised the demand of making Amritsar a medical hub in the Parliament. He also asked to crack down on the administration and send a committee to check the facilities in the hospitals in Amritsar. Gurjeet Singh Aujla said that Amritsar is accessible from all directions by rail, air and road, that is why this demand is now justified.
Questions raised under the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare under Demand for Grant
Gurjeet Singh Aujla, while starting under the Ministry of Family and Health Welfare, said that on one hand there is talk of making the country a Vishwaguru, while on the other hand only 2.5 percent of the country’s GDP budget has been kept for health.
He said that a healthy mind resides only in a healthy body. He said that this is very less and it should be increased. Because India’s workforce is only seven per 1000 while at the international level it is 17. Along with other things, it is more important to keep the health of the future good.
Amritsar should be made a medical hub centre
MP Gurjeet Singh Aujla said that Amritsar is connected internationally through rail, road and air travel. A medical tourism city can be built there. Earlier people used to come to India from Pakistan for treatment.
This will benefit the people and the people of Amritsar will get employment. He said that lakhs of devotees come there daily and the maintenance is also very good, so if Amritsar becomes a medical city, everyone will get benefit.
Demand for a hospital like AIIMS or PGI
He said that a population of 80 lakhs connects Amritsar to Gurdaspur, Pathankot and Jammu. Late Finance Minister Arun Jaitley had promised AIIMS for Amritsar but the Akali-BJP government shifted it to Bathinda where there are no facilities. That is why Amritsar should be given a hospital like AIIMS or PGI.
Discussion on the pathetic condition of Amritsar Medical College, TB Hospital and ESI Hospital
MP Gurjeet Singh Aujla also discussed the pathetic condition of Amritsar Medical College and Sri Guru Nanak Dev Hospital. He said that many international doctors have come out of this 100-year-old hospital and he himself has provided many facilities there when he won in 2017 but still a lot of improvement is needed there.
He said that when the medical college was built, there were 600 Group D posts but at present there are only 200 posts. He said that it is very sad that there an educated doctor is sometimes getting the lights fixed, sometimes getting the cleaning done and sometimes looking after the work done by other grade four employees.
He said that a good committee should be sent there and there should be an administrator because when a doctor has to do all this work, he is not able to do justice to the patients. He further said that there is a shortage of gynaecologists and paediatricians in Bebe Nanaki ward, when a specialist is needed then he has to be sent to Faridkot.
He also requested to hand over the State Cancer Institute to the people as soon as possible. MP Aujla said that the TB hospital of Amritsar was built 75 years ago and its condition is very pathetic.
It was the first TB hospital of the North Region, whose building should now be rebuilt. There is also a need to crack down on the mafia running in the ESI hospital, which sends patients to private hospitals instead of Sri Guru Nanak Hospital.
Raised voice for Asha workers too
MP Aujla also spoke about the meagre salary being given to Asha workers in the Parliament and said that if health facilities are reaching villages today, then it is due to the hard work of Asha workers. That is why their salary should be increased. Doctors should also get a salary that they can manage their life well without doing private practice.
Need to rein in administration
MP Gurjit Singh Aujla also talked about reining in the administration department. He said that fake medicines, fake fertilizers and drugs and environment, all these cannot be controlled at the same time.
Why is DHO not suspended for fake fertilizers and why are IAS, State Secretary not held accountable for fixing these things. He said that the root of the real disease is the administrator, that is why there is a need to pay attention to this department.
DNA getting destroyed by dirty drains
MP Gurjeet Singh Aujla while talking about Tung Dhab drain or dirty drain said that it is destroying the DNA of people. Diseases are spreading and when he raised the question before the central government, they said that the cleanliness and maintenance of dirty drains is the responsibility of the state government.
MP Aujla said that it is the responsibility of the state government but what is the fault of those people who are suffering from diseases due to this.
Who should be punished for that. MP Aujla said that that is why if a committee is sent for this, it should visit, look in rural areas also, go to Shri Guru Nanak Dev Hospital also and prepare a report, then prepare the budget accordingly and release the funds because the state government does not have funds.
