Country needs 600 medical colleges, 50 AIIMS-like institutions: Gadkari
The country needs at least 600 medical colleges, 50 AIIMS-like institutions, and 200 super-specialty hospitals, Union Minister Nitin Gadkari said on Saturday as he called for the need to replicate the infrastructure development sector's public-private partnership model in the healthcare and education sectors. Gadkari was speaking at the felicitation of COVID-19 warriors in Karad city of Maharashtra's Satara district.
Cooperative sector should help set up medical facilities: Gadkari
He said the cooperative sector should also come forward to set up medical facilities. "Once during a discussion with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, I told him about the scarcity of ventilators. He asked me how many ventilators were there in the country, to which I replied there must be around 2.5 lakh," the Road Transport and Highways Minister said.
There were only 13,000 ventilators when COVID-19 broke out: Gadkari
"But PM Modi told me that there were only 13,000 ventilators when the deadly coronavirus pandemic broke out in the country," Gadkari said. "There was a lack of oxygen, beds, and other medical facilities at that time. But doctors, paramedical, nurses helped a lot in those times," the minister said, adding, "I appreciate their work."
Public-private investment model can be replicated in healthcare sector: Gadkari
"Apart from the government-run hospitals, the contribution of medical facilities set up by the cooperative and private sectors was commendable," the minister said. "The public-private investment model in the road and infrastructure development sector can be replicated in healthcare and education sectors. The country needs a minimum of 600 medical colleges, 50 AIIMS-like institutions, and 200 super-specialty hospitals," he said.
Necessary to have one veterinary hospital in every tehsil: Gadkari
"The government is also thinking of providing help to those social organizations that work in medical and education sectors," Gadkari said. He also stressed the need to have at least one veterinary hospital in every tehsil.
