Bhubaneswar: The Odisha government has decided to keep the Patients Facilitation Centre opened at Andhra Pradesh’s Visakhapatnam operational for another year (2023-24).
An amount of Rs 10 lakh from the Chief Minister’s Relief Fund will be provided for operating the centre, a CMO release said.
After approving the proposal, the CM said that the move is aimed at continuing medical assistance to the poor and tribals traveling from Malkangari to Visakhapatnam.
The state government had set up the centre in Visakhapatnam in 2016 since people from this remotest part of the state depend mostly on Visakhapatnam, which is nearer, for tertiary healthcare services. Patients from Malkangiri are provided free accommodation and food there.
Between 2016 and 2022, an assistance of Rs 55 lakh from the Chief Minister’s Relief Fund to this medical centre, the released added.
