VIJAYAWADA: As many as 88 new Primary Health Centres (PHCs) are being established across 26 districts of Andhra Pradesh and two new PHCs have been approved in the NTR district, said Union Health and Family Welfare Minister Pratap Rao Jadhav in a written reply to Vijayawada MP Kesineni Sivanath’s (Chinni) questions.
The Union Minister revealed that in NTR district’s PHCs, 72 staff nurses were sanctioned, with 68 already appointed. Out of 45 approved doctors, 42 have been hired, though specialist doctors are yet to be appointed.
For Urban Primary Health Centres (UPHCs) in the district, 97 staff nurses were approved, of which 86 have been appointed, alongside 48 out of 49 approved doctors. Specialist doctors are also absent in these centres.
Separately, Union Minister of State for Women and Child Development Savitri Thakur revealed that while Rs 5.48 crore was allocated to the State for constructing One Stop Centre (OSC) buildings, only Rs 96.5 lakh has been utilised. These centres aim to assist women with police help, medical services, legal advice, and temporary shelter.
Out of 870 OSCs approved nationwide, 802 are operational, including 26 centres in the State, one in each district. Since their inception, 3,451 women have been supported in 2023-24 alone, with 17,797 women benefiting from these centres in Andhra Pradesh between 2019 and 2024.