By Our Correspondent
BHUBANESWAR: Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik advised the new 203 Assistant Professors those who joined Odisha Medical Education Service, to follow the 5T initiative of the government and try to bring smiles to patients and their close family members.
The State Government is committed to providing universal access to quality healthcare services and bringing down the out-of-pocket expenses of the people. The size of the budget of the Health Department is increasing over the years. The budget estimate in healthcare has almost doubled to over Rs. 12 thousand crores in this financial year since 2019-20. It is more than six per cent of the State Plan the CM added.
Speaking on the occasion Chief Secretary Suresh Chandra Mohapatra said that the Chief Minister has directed to fill up all posts of medical officers and professors in all govt health facilities. The state is providing cashless health service to over 70 thousand patients every month and spending Rs 70 crore per month, he added.
Interacting with the new professors, 5T Secretary VK Pandian advised them to follow Mo Sarkar. Explaining the tenets of Mo Sarkar, he said, as they have come through a transparent system, similarly, they should also see that the people who come to them are treated respectably and not harassed.
Sharing an anecdote, the 5T Secretary said that for a long time, the state was stuck with only three medical colleges and new govt medical colleges could not come up due to a lack of teachers. One day, the Chief Minister decided that Odisha cannot wait for more for health education. The state has to go for medical education in a big way. Today there are 11 medical colleges in the state. And some more in the pipeline.
