New Delhi [India], November 3 (ANI): Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta on Tuesday underscored the vital role of public-private partnerships in transforming the national capital into a premier healthcare hub, while highlighting her government’s comprehensive push to expand medical infrastructure, recruit doctors and nurses, and strengthen digital health services.
Speaking at the inauguration of a newly developed, state-of-the-art In Vitro Fertilisation (IVF) Centre at Sant Parmanand Hospital, the Chief Minister said the administration is committed to ensuring high-quality, affordable healthcare for every citizen, with a special emphasis on disease prevention.
Highlighting financial protection initiatives for patients, CM Gupta noted that under the Ayushman Bharat scheme, the Delhi government has supplemented the Centre’s ₹5 lakh cover with an additional ₹5 lakh, raising the total annual health cover to ₹10 lakh per beneficiary family.
“More than 8.94 lakh Ayushman cards have been approved so far. Over 3.09 lakh senior citizens aged above 70 years have been enrolled under Ayushman Vay Vandana, while more than 5.28 lakh beneficiaries of widow and disability pensions, along with their families, have been covered under the scheme,” the Chief Minister stated.
Outlining steps taken to scale up primary and secondary healthcare, she said the administration has operationalised 415 Ayushman Arogya Mandirs close to residential areas alongside 29 Jan Aushadhi Kendras. Furthermore, five major infrastructure projects worth ₹503.49 crore are currently underway across government hospitals. Advanced facilities, including a Neuro ICU at GB Pant Hospital and 300 dialysis machines across 16 government hospitals, have already been made available.
To address medical seat capacity and workforce shortages, the Chief Minister announced a significant increase in medical education seats.
“MBBS seats in medical colleges are being increased from 595 to 820, while postgraduate (PG) seats are being raised from 553 to 762. A new medical college is also being developed at Indira Gandhi Hospital in Dwarka at an estimated cost of ₹805.99 crore,” she said.
She added that recruitment drives have inducted over 1,200 nurses and 954 senior resident doctors, with more than 4,000 new healthcare posts approved.
On the digital and preventive healthcare front, CM Gupta shared that over one crore ABHA IDs have been generated in Delhi and the Digital Health Management System has been rolled out across 38 government hospitals. Welfare interventions also include 56 free screening tests for newborns, 10,000 free cancer screenings, and free HPV vaccination drives targeting girls aged 9 to 14 years.
The newly inaugurated IVF Centre at Sant Parmanand Hospital is equipped with advanced reproductive technologies, including Intracytoplasmic Sperm Injection (ICSI), and is staffed by a dedicated team of fertility specialists and embryologists to provide clinical evaluation, treatment, and counselling. (ANI)
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