Odisha Govt Responsible For Delay In Setting Up Of AYUSH Hospital In Balasore: Union Minister

Bhubaneswar: Union Minister of State for AYUSH (Ayurveda, Yoga & Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha and Homoeopathy) Shripad Naik has blamed the Odisha government for delay in setting up of AYUSH Hospital in Balasore.

In a reply to the letter to Union Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister Dharmendra Pradhan on December 12, Naik said the AYUSH ministry has sanctioned Rs 5 crore during 2016-17 and Rs 3 crore during 2017-18 for setting up of two units of 50-bedded integrated AYUSH Hospital in Dhenkanal and  Berhampur respectively.

He, however, said that though the state government has submitted a proposal of setting up of a 50-bedded integrated AYUSH Hospital in Balasore through the state annual action plan under National AYUSH Mission (NAM) during the 2018-19, it has not submitted the physical and financial progress of the earlier approved 50-bedded integrated AYUSH Hospitals.

Taking note of this, the Mission Directorate of the NAM has suggested the state government to utilize the previous sanctioned amount and submit the progress report to the AYUSH Ministry.

“Therefore, the state government may project the proposal of setting up of the 50-bedded integrated AYUSH Hospital in Balasore through State Annual Action Plan as per NAM guidelines to AYUSH Ministry,” Naik pointed out.

Notably, Dharmendra had drawn the attention of the Union AYUSH Minister in receipt of the petition from the BJP MLA of Remuna, Gobinda Chandra Das in this connection.

In the petition, Das had alleged that though the state government had submitted the NAM action plan to the AYUSH ministry for the financial allocation for the proposed project, the ministry is yet to release the sanction order.