CHANDIGARH: Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Monday stated that the Modi government, over the past decade, has improved the country's health infrastructure from primary to tertiary level by taking a holistic approach.
Addressing a gathering after unveiling a statue of Maharaja Agrasen at the Maharaja Agrasen Medical College campus in Agroha of Hisar, Haryana, Shah emphasised the many initiatives taken by the Modi government to improve India's medical infrastructure.
"In 2013-14, the Union Government allocated a budget of Rs 37,000 crore for the health sector. In 2025-26, the budget will be Rs 1.37 lakh crore," he said.
Shah said that when Narendra Modi became Prime Minister there were seven All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) in the country, out of which, six were established during the Atal Bihari Vajpayee-led government. He added that now there are 23 AIIMS in the country.
He also asserted that the number of medical colleges has increased from 387 to 766. He added that the number of MBBS seats has risen from fifty-one thousand to 1.15 lakh, with an additional 85,000 seats set to be added in the next five years.
On the occasion, he also inaugurated the newly built ICU and laid the foundation stone for the postgraduate hostel.
He said that 250 million people have been lifted out of poverty during the Modi government's tenure. 40 million houses have been built for the poor, providing shelter to 200 million people.
He also discussed the Central government's provision of free food grains to over 810 million beneficiaries under the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana and the provision of toilets to every household under the Swachh Bharat Mission.
Until 2014, 120 million families in this country did not have toilets. Imagine the plight of girls in households without toilets, Shah said.
Haryana Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini, state BJP Chief Mohan Lal Badoli, state health minister Arti Singh Rao, minister Ranbir Singh Gangwa, BJP MP from Kurukshetra Naveen Jindal, Chairperson Emeritus of the Jindal Group, Independent MLA from Hisar Savitri Jindal, former Rajya Sabha MP D P Vats and others were present on the occasion.