PUNJAB CM CALLS FOR COLLECTIVE EFFORTS TO PROMOTE HEALTHCARE, EDUCATION IN STATE

ANNOUNCES MOVE TO CONVERT PRIMARY HEALTH CENTRES INTO HEALTHCARE CENTRES FOR MEDICAL SCANNING OF KIDS
Chandigarh, September 25, 2017: Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh on Monday called for collective efforts by all sections of the society to bring Punjab back on the path of development.

Addressing a select gathering of healthcare luminaries at the launch of The Tribune coffee table book, `Doyens of Healthcare’ , Captain Amarinder expressed the confidence that his government would succeed in bringing the state out of the mess it had inherited from the previous regime. He exhorted the media and other members of the society to join hands with the government in enabling fast-track growth and development of the state.

The Chief Minister formally launched the coffee table book before presenting excellence awards to several noted healthcare experts who have contributed to the promotion of the sector and played an important role in facilitating the health welfare of the people.

Identifying healthcare as a primary area of focus for his government, the Chief Minister reiterated his commitment to improving healthcare, along with education, in the state despite the prevailing fiscal crisis.

In his brief address, the Chief Minister pointed out that the public health sector in the state was in a bad shape and announced his government’s decision to convert primary health centres into primary healthcare centres to ensure early scanning of medical problems in children.

His government, said Captain Amarinder, was also investing in the existing medical colleges in Patiala and Amritsar besides setting up a new medical college in Mohali to boost healthcare. Stressing the need for a medical college in Malwa region, the Chief Minister said his government was looking into ways and means of setting up more high-end medical institutions in the state.

Asserting that India’s medical system was second to none in the world, the Chief Minister said people look at India for affordable and quality healthcare and treatment.

Regardless of the problems faced by the state, Captain Amarinder said he was confident that Punjab would once again lead the nation in development. His government was striving to ensure that Punjab’s education system is at par with states like Himachal Pradesh and healthcare quality is at the level of Kerala and Tamil Nadu.

Tribune Editor-in-Chhief Harish Khare, on his part, assured Captain Amarinder that his organisation stood with the government in every positive step it takes for the development of Punjab.

Terming the problems faced by the government as initial hiccups, Khare said the Chief Minister, with his high sense of public responsibility and great personal integrity - a rare combination among politicians - was well equipped to tackle the same.

Punjab was fortunate to have a wise and intelligent chief Minister like Captain Amarinder, said Khare, adding that any criticism highlighted by his publication was with the hope that the government would address it in the interest of the people.