The Centre has decided to establish a national network of laboratories for managing epidemics and natural calamities.
The meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) chaired by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh also approved the proposal for setting up of Multi-Disciplinary Research Units (MDRUs) in 80 government medical colleges.
Finance Minister P Chidambaram said the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare had proposed to set up 10 regional labs, 30 state-level labs and 120 medical college-level labs under the scheme for establishing a network of laboratories for managing epidemics and natural calamities at an estimated cost of `646.83 crore during the 12th Five Year Plan.
He said that the MDRUs in 80 government medical colleges would be set up at an estimated cost of about `503.85 crore, during the 12th Plan period.