249-bed Maternity & Child Care Hospital in Anantnag approved by screening committee: Govt
No plans to open new health facilities: Itoo
Srinagar, Mar 25 (KNO): The Jammu and Kashmir government said on Tuesday that the 249-bedded Maternity and Child Care Hospital in south Kashmir’s Anantnag district has been approved by the Building Screening Committee and is currently undergoing Authentication, Authorization, and Accounting (AAA).
Responding to a question from MLA Peerzada Mohammad Syed, Health and Medical Education Minister Sakina Itoo, as reported by the news agency—Kashmir News Observer (KNO), said that the Rehmat-e-Alam hospital building was deemed unsafe for hospital use by IIT Jammu after a safety audit.
Itoo said the estimated cost of strengthening the current structure at Rehmat-e-Alam exceeds the cost of constructing a new facility, making it economically unfeasible. “The proposed establishment of the 249-bedded Mother & Child Care Hospital, amounting to Rs 286 crore, has been cleared and is in the process of AAA,” she said.
The minister said the department is committed to the safety audit report and said that no further audits will be conducted.
Responding to Advocate Vijay Kumar’s query, she said that since the department is focused on consolidating and strengthening existing health facilities, there are currently no plans to open new health facilities.
In the Hiranagar constituency, out of 35 health facilities—including 0 Community Health Centres, 2 Primary Health Centres, 3 New Type Primary Health Centres, and 28 Sub- Centres—22 are located in border areas, with one Advance Life Support (ALS) ambulance available at CHC Hiranagar—(KNO)
