GUWAHATI, Aug 23 - The Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region has sanctioned a fund of Rs 220 crore for setting up a medical college and hospital in Nalbari district, which be the 11th medical college in the State.
Announcing this at a press conference here on Wednesday, Health Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said that DoNER, which generally gives funds for road construction, etc, has sanctioned funds for the hospital for the first time.
He said that land acquisition at Daksingaon, about 10 km from Nalbari town, has already started. Around 100 bighas of land will be taken for the medical college and hospital. It will be a 500-bed hospital, with annual student intake of 100, and construction work will start soon.
The minister added that all the 26 district hospitals in the State will very soon have free dialysis provisions.
Meanwhile, the minister informed that 32 lakh smart cards for beneficiaries under Atal Amrit Abhiyan have already been distributed.
�The target is to reach out to 1.5 crore families with annual income of less than Rs 5 lakh which is likely to be completed by October this year,� the minister pointed out.
Once the smart card scheme is activated, the beneficiaries will be able to get cashless treatment at empanelled hospitals across the State up to Rs 2 lakh per year for six scheduled diseases, including cancer and heart ailments.
