BHUBANESWAR: Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Friday reiterated that the state government is committed to provide universal access to quality health care services and bring down the out of pocket expenses of people.
Addressing the orientation programme of 203 assistant professors who joined Odisha Medical Education Service on Friday virtually, the chief minister said the size of the Health department budget has been increasing over the years. The budget estimate in healthcare has almost doubled to over `12,000 crore in this financial year since 2019-20.
It is more than six percent of the state plan, he added. The chief minister advised the new assistant professors to follow the 5T initiative of the government and try to bring smiles on the faces of patients and their families. Welcoming the new recruits, he said recruitment of such a large number of assistant professors at one go will boost health education and improve the healthcare service bringing satisfaction for people.
Stating that the state government has always believed strongly in ‘Sustha Odisha, Sukhi Odish’ and guided by the principle of ‘every life matters’, the chief minister said it has been the fundamental principle of governance. Speaking on 5T initiative of his government, he said, “All of you might be aware of our 5T Initiative, where application of components like Transparency, Technology, Team work, Time lead to Transformation. This will be a key principle throughout your career.”