BHUBANESWAR : The Centre has directed the Mahanadi Coalfields Ltd (MCL) to set up Covid hospitals with a total of 550 beds and equipped with critical medicare infrastructure in four districts of Odisha. Union Minister of Coal and Mines Pralhad Joshi on Thursday informed this to his cabinet colleague Dharmendra Pradhan, who recently sought his intervention for facilitating suitable healthcare facilities with ICU, oxygen and ventilator to help the State in treatment of Covid patients in the coal bearing districts of Angul, Sambalpur, Jharsuguda and Sundargarh.
“I have already instructed the management of MCL to positively consider the request received from you for setting up a temporary 150-bed super specialty hospital in Sambalpur, a 50-bed Covid hospital in Vasundhara area of Sundargarh district and providing 50 to 150 beds with oxygen, ICU and ventilator facilities for the Covid hospitals at Brajrajnagar, Lakhanpur and Talcher,” Joshi said.
In his reply to the May 7 letter of Pradhan, the Union Coal Minister said, “You will be happy to know that MCL during 2020-2021 has contributed to setting up of healthcare facilities under their command area in Odisha out of their CSR fund and in addition, has taken up various other activities aimed at assuaging the sufferings of the people of Odisha in this hour of calamity.”
“Continuing the good work in fighting #Covid-19, @mahanadicoal is setting up a 120-bed hospital in Jharsuguda, Odisha. This hospital has 20 ICU beds and will strengthen medical infrastructure in the region,” Joshi tweeted. Pradhan had requested Joshi for setting up a temporary hospital with 150 oxygenated beds, ICU and ventilator in Sambalpur, similar provisions at Lakhanpur and Talcher Covid hospitals and 50 beds each in Vasundhara area of MCL and Brajrajnagar Covid hospitals.
Expressing his gratitude to MCL for rendering valuable services by setting up 1200-bed Covid hospital in Bhubaneswar, Pradhan said, “I appreciate MCL contribution totaling to a significant sum of over `140 crore towards Covid management and preparedness in Odisha.”