Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Thursday that the government is planning to open 1.5 lakh new health and wellness centres in rural areas by 2022 when the country celebrates the 75th anniversary of Independence.

Work is also in progress to ensure that one medical college is provided in every three Lok Sabha constituencies, he told a gathering after inaugurating a ₹750-crore multi-speciality hospital here on eve of the Vibrant Gujarat Global Summit 2019 that he is scheduled to open on Friday.

‘World-class hospital’

Praising the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) for developing the modern facility with 1,500 beds, Modi said the 18-storey Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel Institute of Medical Sciences and Research (SVPIMSR), spread over 23 acres on the premises of the existing Vadilal Sarabhai Hospital Complex, will offer more facilities than any corporate hospital at an affordable cost to the poor.

The world-class hospital even has a helipad for air ambulance service. “This advances the vision of Sardar Patel who, as the first President of the Ahmedabad Municipality, had conceived of modern health facilities for the people,” Modi said.

Ayushman Bharat

Under the Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (Ayushman Bharat), he said the government hopes to provide the best facilities to 50 crore poor Indians free of cost. In the first 100 days of launching the ‘Modicare’, seven lakh people have already benefited from the facilities and on an average 10,000 patients get the benefit every day.

“Besides, under the Pradhan Mantri Jan Aushadhi Yojana, we have opened about 5,000 stores to provide generic drugs at half the price of branded medicines.”

Applauding the Gujarat government for being the first to implement the 10 per cent reservation in jobs and education granted recently to the general category, Modi said that unlike other parties having “no political will”, the NDA government had also amended the Constitution to make this fresh quota a reality.

“From the next session, this will be implemented across 900 universities and various colleges and seats will be increased by 10 per cent,” he said.

Trade show & shopping fest

Earlier, Modi inaugurated a Global Trade Show in Gandhinagar, spread across 200,000 square metres. Representatives from nearly 100 countries are participating in the six-day (January 17-22) event that has 16 partner countries. In the evening, he opened the Ahmedabad Shopping Festival, conceived on lines of the Dubai Shopping Festival.

Modi, who arrived here on a three-day visit this afternoon, was greeted at the airport by Governor OP Kohli, Chief Minister Vijay Rupani and Deputy Chief Minister Nitin Patel, among others.

On Friday, he is scheduled to inaugurate the ninth edition of Vibrant Gujarat Global Summit. The three-day, biennial event has been the flagship programme of the Gujarat Government since 2003, being the brainchild of Modi, who was then Chief Minister of the State.

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