Minister of Finance, Culture, Labour and Employment, Dr Haseeb Drabu, Thursday said the state government will construct a super-specialty maternity hospital at Anantnag.The announcement was made by the Minister while chairing District Development Board meeting here today.“The hospital will be funded by the Prime Minister’s TAIMER program under which Rs 1500 crore have been set aside for strengthening the healthcare sector of Jammu and Kashmir,” Dr Drabu said.During the meeting, the Finance Minister issued on-spot instructions to the Deputy Commissioner, Anantnag, to prepare a blueprint for establishing the maternity hospital which will cater to patients from south Kashmir districts of Anantnag, Kulgam, Pulwama and Shopian.The Minister said the hospital will end the trauma of people living in far flung areas of south Kashmir who are often referred to Srinagar’s Lal Ded hospital during maternity complications with many of them unable to get treatment on time.
Dr Drabu said the project was envisioned by the former Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed and it will be a tribute for his commitment towards the people of the District.
The meeting attended by Minister for Public Works Abdul Rehman Veeri, Minister of State for Hajj and Auqaf Farooq Andrabi, Legislators Gulzar Ahmad, Amin Bhat, Abdul Majid Bhat (Larmi), Abdul Rahim Rather, Altaf Ahmad Wani and Bashir Ahmad Veeri besides top officials from the civil and police administration, including Chief Engineers of I&FC, PHE and Public Works Departments.The Minister assured the legislators that the developmental works will be taken up under separate plans for different sectors like education, healthcare, etc. “We can prioritize works in one sector in one year so that projects get adequate funding for timely completion,” he said. Meanwhile, Dr Drabu also announced that he will arrange an MRI machine for Anantnag district hospital through a Corporate Social Responsibility arrangement.