*NHM employees to get maternity, medical leave benefit
Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, Feb 1: Minister for Health and Medical Education Bali Bhagat today claimed that Government would start Post-Graduate courses in Indira Gandhi Government Dental College, Jammu from this year while NHM employees will also be entitled for maternity and medical leave.
Replying to a question of Congress member Naresh Kumar Gupta in the Upper House today, Health Minister said that the Government is running PG courses in Government Dental College & Hospital Srinagar with intake capacity of two admissions annually in each specialty including Conservative Dentistry & Endodontics; Oral & Maxillofacial Surgery; Periodontics; Oral Medicine & Radiology; Prosthodontics & Crown & Bridge; and Orthodontics & Dentfacial Orthopaedics. The institution intends to increase the intake capacity to three seats annually in these six specialties, he added.
The Minister further said that the Government has referred seven vacant posts of Dental Specialists to Jammu and Kashmir Public Service Commission for selection in 2013 for which the selection is awaited. He said the Government has taken up the matter with the Centre to engage BDS graduates under Centrally sponsored schemes including National Health Mission (NHM), he asserted.
Legislator Sajjad Ahmad Kichloo raised supplementary question related to the main question.
Meanwhile, replying to a separate question of Mohammad Muzaffar Parray, the Minister informed that two Mother and Child Care Hospitals (MCCHs) are under construction in twin capital cities of Jammu and Srinagar at an estimated cost of Rs 50 crore each.
He further said that the Government is providing Mother and Child Care services in existing District Hospitals of Jammu as well as Kashmir. The Minister said the Government mulls to provide facilities for liver and renal transplantation in Super-Specialty Hospitals of GMC Jammu and GMC Srinagar. The pacemakers are already being implanted to the patients in both the GMCs, he added.
Regarding implant of chip type pacemakers in Super-Specialty Hospitals, the Minister said the cardiologists need special training to implant chip type pacemakers and these are suitable only in minority of patients. The Government has to take into account the cost factor of these pacemakers which is considerably at higher side, he stressed.
He further said the Government is taking necessary steps to vanquish multi-protein complex that causes malaria by the bite of female mosquitoes. Patients are given Chemophylaxis, suppressive prophylaxis with Chloroquine and Proguanil to prevent malaria besides taking other anti mosquitoes’ measures including focal sprays and thermal fogging.
Replying to a supplementary question of Ghulam Nabi Monga, the Minister informed that District Hospital, Baramulla stood first in the survey conducted by the Centre and bagged Kayakalp award in 2017. Mother and Child Care services are already being provided by the Government in the hospital, he added.
Replying to a supplementary question of Vikram Randhawa, the Minister said the construction work of Gandhi Nagar Hospital would be completed soon and it will be commissioned this year.
While replying to another question of PDP member Firdous Ahmad Tak, the Minister said that the Government has constituted a four-member Committee to examine the demands of contractual employees of National Health Mission (NHM). The report presented by the Committee would be submitted to the Finance Department for its consideration, he added.
Giving details, the Minister informed that 7590 employees are working in the State under various Centrally sponsored schemes including 6238 under NHM, 959 under RBSK and 348 under NUHM.
He assured that the employees engaged under NHM would be given six months maternity leave with honorarium, one month medical leave with honorarium and insurance cover upto Rs 10 lakh for which the matter has been taken up with the NHM Governing Body. He also said that the contractual staff engaged under NHM is getting honorarium/benefits as per the guidelines of Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, whereas, regular employees deputed from Finance, Planning, Health and Medical Education Departments are getting benefits as per the State Government norms.
NC member Qaiser Lone also raised supplementary question related to the main question.
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