Govt aims to set up at least one medical college in every district: PM Modi

Rishikesh: Lauding the country's healthcare sector, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday said the government aims to set up at least one medical college in every district.

In his address at an event in Rishikesh, the Prime Minister said, "About 6-7 years ago, only a few states had the facility of AIIMS. Today, work is being done to take AIIMS to every state. We are moving fast from six AIIMS to build a strong network of 22 AIIMS. It is also the goal of the government that there must be at least one medical college in every district of the country."

Appreciating former Prime Minister AB Vajpayee's contribution for the development of Uttarakhand, the Prime Minister said, "Atal ji had fulfilled the dream of the creation of Uttarakhand. Atal ji believed that connectivity is directly related to development. Due to his inspiration, today work is being done to ensure connectivity via infrastructure in the country at unprecedented speed and scale."

"Today the government does not wait for the citizens to come to them with their problems and then take action. We are removing this misconception from the government's mindset and system. Now, the government goes to the citizen directly to solve their problems," he said.

The Prime Minister also appreciated India's ongoing vaccination drive and said, "It is a matter of pride for every Indian that 93 crore doses of COVID vaccines have been administered. Very soon, we will cross the 100 crore mark. India has shown the way to the whole world that by building the Co-WIN platform, one can carry out the vaccination drive on such a large scale."

"In normal days, India used to produce 900 metric tonnes of liquid medical oxygen a day. As the demand increased, India increased the production of medical oxygen more than 10 times. This was an unimaginable goal for any country in the world, but India has achieved it," PM Modi added.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi dedicated to the nation 35 Pressure Swing Adsorption (PSA) oxygen plants established under the PM CARES Fund. The ceremony had begun at 11 am at AIIMS Rishikesh, the PMO's statement said.