SRINAGAR: Jammu and Kashmir police on Wednesday detained two accused in connection with a blast in Jammu and Kashmir’s Poonch district, officials said.

The blast triggered by a handmade crude substance took place in the vicinity of the district hospital in Poonch town late Tuesday night, causing panic among locals.

A police officer said that they received info of suspected small intensity explosion like sound heard from an area near Poonch Hospital. “Necessary investigation into the matter has been set into motion to ascertain the exact nature of the material which apparently looks like a hand made crude substance," he said. 

SRINAGAR: The Jammu and Kashmir government on Tuesday assigned the charge of Director SKIMS Soura to Dr Syed Abdi Rashid Shah in addition to his own duties. 

According to an order, a copy of which lies with the news agency—Kashmir News Observer (KNO) the appointment has been made in view of the retirement of Dr Parvez Koul on March 03. 

"Consequent upon the retirement on superannuation of Prof. (Dr.) Parvez Koul, Director, SKIMS and ex-officio Secretary to the Government, on 08.03.2024 (A.N.) and pending appointment of a suitable candidate against the said post, Dr. Syed Abid Rasheed, IAS, Administrative Secretary, Health and Medical Education Department is hereby assigned the charge of the post of Director, SKIMS, in addition to his own duties till further orders," reads the order—(KNO)

Zargar Gulzar

SRINAGAR: Prime Minister Narendra Modi virtually inaugurated a 50-bedded intensive care hospital at the Government Medical College (GMC) in Baramulla district of Jammu and Kashmir on Sunday. The hospital has been set up by mobile digital movie theatre company Picturetime in collaboration with the American Indian Foundation.

The PM also laid the foundation stone for 13 other healthcare projects and six food testing vans in the union territory under various schemes. He said that these projects will boost the health infrastructure and ensure quality and affordable healthcare for the people of J&K.

The hospital in Baramulla is equipped with modern facilities and equipment, including eight beds with ICU facility and 42 beds with oxygen facility. It will cater to the needs of the patients from the northern Kashmir region, especially in the wake of the possible third wave of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The PM appreciated the efforts of the local administration, the health workers and the civil society in tackling the challenges posed by the pandemic. He also praised the role of the Indian Army and the security forces in maintaining peace and stability in the region.

He said that the Centre is committed to the development and welfare of J&K and is working on various projects in sectors like education, tourism, agriculture, horticulture, power, connectivity and sports. He urged the youth of J&K to take advantage of the opportunities and participate in the progress of the nation.

The PM also interacted with some of the beneficiaries of the Ayushman Bharat scheme and the Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana in J&K. He said that these schemes have provided free health insurance cover to over 21 lakh families in the union territory and have benefited more than 2.5 lakh people so far.

SRINAGAR: Lieutenant Governor Shri Manoj Sinha today laid the foundation stone of much-awaited 125-bedded District Hospital Complex at a cost of Rs 49.32 crore at Reshipora, Budgam.

 In his address, the Lt Governor congratulated the people of Budgam on the occasion. Today is a historic day for all of us in terms of development. The 125-bedded Hospital will fulfill the long pending demand and dream of the people of having all the health facilities under one roof, he said.

“People’s health is the top priority of administration and this project is a testimony to our commitment to bring better health facilities to small towns, strengthening public health service delivery, minimizing inconvenience and referrals to Tertiary health care centres in Srinagar,” the Lt Governor said.

Addressing a huge gathering, the Lt Governor highlighted the efforts of the administration to establish transparent and responsive governance.

“We have traveled a long distance in the last three years in terms of speedy execution of projects within the stipulated period and eliminated the gap between the aspirations of people and the delivery by administration with dedication and commitment,” the Lt Governor said.

He said the UT Administration, under the guidance of Hon’ble Prime Minister, is working diligently to ensure there is no scope for discrimination and corruption.

Our policies have been formulated with the objective of ensuring living standards of common man are improved and deprived section of the society is empowered, he said.

At Budgam, the Lt Governor paid homage to the martyrs of Police and Security Forces.

“The UT administration is determined to create a fear-free, terrorism-free, corruption-free and future-oriented Jammu Kashmir. We salute our soldiers and police personnel who laid down their lives in combating terrorism. I assure the people that we will make J&K terror-free. This is our resolve,” the Lt Governor said.

He called upon the citizens to discharge their duties and contribute in the development of J&K.

Development should become a powerful people’s movement in all 20 districts and the elements making efforts to disturb peace must be isolated by the society, he added.

He said the conflict profiteers who kept the people of J&K away from mainstream development, those who built their houses in foreign countries and sent their children abroad for studies think that they only have all the rights on government resources.

We have been successful in breaking the backbone of ecosystem of conflict profiteers and will strike the last nail in the coffin of these subversive forces, the Lt Governor said.

Speaking on PM Vishwakarma scheme launched by Hon’ble Prime Minister, the Lt Governor said the scheme provides the benefits including toolkit incentive of Rs 15,000, training of artisans, Rs 500 per day during training, collateral-free credit support up to Rs 1 lakh (first tranche) and Rs 2 lakh (second tranche) at a concessional interest rate of 5%, incentive for digital transactions and marketing support, he said.

J&K is the biggest beneficiary of the reformative schemes introduced by the Central Government in the last few years.  We will make every effort to extend the benefits of this Scheme across the UT and transform the lives of the artisans and craftspeople of Jammu Kashmir working with their hands and tools, the Lt Governor said.

It will be ensured that the eligible beneficiaries are being identified at panchayat level, their ID cards are prepared at District level and the final list will be notified at UT level, he added.

On the occasion, the Lt Governor lauded the public representatives and District Administration for commendable efforts to create smart facilities for the people and inspiring other districts as well to follow in their footsteps. I am confident very soon the dream of Smart City Budgam will be realized, he said.

He said the administration has also initiated the process of establishing Cluster University in Budgam.

“Deputy Commissioner Budgam has proposed the land for Cluster University in Budgam. Divisional Commissioner, Kashmir is working on the proposal and I am hopeful that very soon we will lay the foundation of Cluster University Kashmir in Budgam,” the Lt Governor said. 

Sh Nazir Ahmad Khan, Chairman, District Development Council, Budgam expressed gratitude to the Lt Governor-led UT Administration for granting the sanction and approval for the establishment of District Hospital Complex at Budgam in a short period of time.

Dr Arun Kumar Mehta, Chief Secretary; Sh Bhupinder Kumar, Secretary Health and Medical Education; Sh Vijay Bidhuri, Divisional Commissioner Kashmir; Sh Akshay Labroo, Deputy Commissioner Budgam; PRI members, senior officers and citizens from all walks of life were present.

Ganderbal: The government has appointed an Inquiry Officer to enquire about the complaint filed by a medico against the doctors and other officials at District Hospital Ganderbal.|

Bhupinder Kumar Secretary to the Government Health and Medical Education Department issued an order on Wednesday which reads that sanction is being accorded to the appointment of Dr Shafqat Khan, Additional Mission Director Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission J&K as Inquiry Officer to enquire into the complaint filed by Dr Abdul Majid Bhat against few doctors and other officials of District Hospital Ganderbal for their involvement in illegal activities.”

The order further reads that the Inquiry Officer shall submit an inquiry report along with recommendations within 10 days positively from the date of issuance of the order. (KNT)

SRINAGAR: The Administrative Council (AC) which met here under the chairmanship of the Lieutenant Governor, Manoj Sinha, accorded Administrative Approval to the construction of a 125-bed hospital at Reshipora, Budgam. Upon completion of the hospital at an estimated cost of Rs. 49.32 Crore, it is expected to improve access to quality healthcare for the people of the area.

Rajeev Rai Bhatnagar, Advisor to the Lieutenant Governor; Dr. Arun Kumar Mehta, Chief Secretary, J&K and Dr. Mandeep Kumar Bhandari, Principal Secretary to the Lieutenant Governor attended the meeting.

The upcoming hospital besides enhancing healthcare for the public will also provide for employment opportunities to skilled/unskilled professionals, medics/ paramedics etc.

The hospital will also help address increased patient rush and is expected to benefit a large chunk of population living in and around district Budgam. (GNS)

SRINAGAR: In a significant decision to ensure availability of quality healthcare,the Administrative Council (AC) which met here today under Lieutenant Governor, Manoj Sinha approved transfer of land for construction of 125 bedded hospital at Reshipora, Budgam .

Rajeev Rai Bhatnagar, Advisor to the Lieutenant Governor; Dr. Arun Kumar Mehta, Chief Secretary, J&K and Mandeep Kumar Bhandari, Principal Secretary to the Lieutenant Governor attended the meeting.

The Administrative Council approved the transfer of land  measuring 71 Kanal situated in estate Reshipora, Budgam in favour of Health & Medical Education Department for construction of 125 bedded District Hospital.

The upcoming hospital besides enhancing healthcare for public in the area, will also provide employment opportunities in different sectors to the skilled/medical practitioners.

SRINAGAR: Chief Secretary, Dr. Arun Kumar Mehta today stressed on extending the facility of online appointments with doctors in the health institutions of J&K. He impressed on the health officers to work for making this service available to public within a month’s time.

Dr Mehta was speaking in the 12th Governing Body meeting of National Health Mission (NHM) attended by Principal Secretary, Jal Shakti; Commissioner Secretary, RDD; Commissioner Secretary, Social Welfare; Secretary, Health; MD, NHM; Principal, GMC Srinagar/Jammu; Director, MCH&I; Director Health, Kashmir/Jammu; Director, Ayush besides others.

Dr Mehta maintained that the prior online appointments to patients are given in many premier hospitals in the country and the Department needs to bring their own system in sync with that to make the process of visiting a Hospital easier. He told them to adopt the simplest and efficient  system available.

Chief Secretary also enjoined upon the officers to digitize the patient history and other legacy data so that the same is accessible round the clock. He said that the convergence of data from Health Care Institutions, Anganwadi centres and Educational Institutions could make a database inclusive of all health details from birth till date for each person. He urged them to make it an objective to ensure 100% digitization of health records of all the individuals here in the UT.

On the occasion both the Secretary Health, Bhupinder Kumar and MD, NHM, Ayushi Sudan gave a detailed overview of the functioning of the Department especially the National Health Mission (NHM), J&K. It was given out that sufficient number of Critical Care Ambulances have been deployed across the health facilities of J&K and integrated with 108 call centre for providing 24×7 hassle-free services to people.

Moreover it was given out that the utilization of funds from the last 5 years from 2018-19 has seen progressive growth with each passing year. It was revealed that out of Rs 671.75 Cr amount of funds available in the year 2018-19, the percentage of utilization was 72%. The same increased to Rs 900.64 Cr in 2022-23 with percentage of utilization taking a quantum leap to reach 98.68% for the previous financial year.

The Governing Body discussed the proposals of the NHM to ratify State Programme Implementation Programme (SPIP) to the tune of Rs 1441.60 Cr for FY 2023-24, procurement of Covid essential Diagnostic & Drugs, Implementation of IT interventions like HMIS (e-SAHAJ) from District Hospitals and CHCs to Tertiary Care Hospitals. It also discussed maternity leave in favour of contractual female employees as per the existing labour laws and other HR related issues for making the functioning of the mission smooth and efficient. (GNS)

SRINAGAR: In a heart-rending incident, some unidentified persons abandoned a newborn baby in North Kashmir’s Kupwara district.
  
Local sources said that few people found the abandoned baby near a local nallah called Hud in the Kralpora area of Kupwara. They quickly arranged clothes for the baby and wrapped it in a warm blanket.
  
The baby was taken to the District Hospital Handwara for treatment.
  
Medical Superintendent District Hospital Handwara Dr Nisar Ahmed Wani told news agency Kashmir News Trust that it was a baby boy who died within 15 minutes in the hospital.
  
“We informed the police about the incident,” he said.
 
Police sources said that a case has been registered under relevant sections of law and a team has been constituted to nab the culprits. (KNT)

SRINAGAR: Jammu and Kashmir Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha on Thursday laid the foundation stone of Rs. 525 Cr Kashmir Medical College & Super-Specialty Hospital at the Industrial Estate Sempora, Medicity, Srinagar.
The project being developed by Milli Trust, Delhi will develop Medical College with 150 MBBS seats to fulfill the aspirations of youth and 100 bedded hospitals will provide world-class healthcare at affordable rates.
The project will also provide employment opportunities to 2000 local youth, an official spokesman said.
Addressing the gathering at the ground breaking ceremony, the Lt Governor said the project is one of the biggest private sector investments in the health sector of Jammu and Kashmir that will improve efficiency and quality of care.
“It is a new era for private investments in J&K and testimony to Prime Minister Narendra Modi Ji's commitment to make J&K a leading investment destination for manufacturing and service sector,” the Lt Governor said.
We have created an enabling environment for the private sector for economic development, employment and income generation. The administration is deeply and sincerely committed to ease of doing business and ease of living, he said. (UNI)