Development of Healthcare in NorthEastern Region

In News

• The first All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) was inaugurated in the Northeast at Changsari near Guwahati.

More about the news

• AIIMS & medical colleges:
  • The AIIMS and a medical college each in Kokrajhar, Nagaon, and Nalbari were among various projects initiated and dedicated to the nation in Assam.
    • The super speciality hospital has a capacity of 750 beds including 30 AYUSH beds and will admit 100 MBBS students annually.
• Assam Advanced Healthcare Innovation Institute (AAHII):
  • Assam Advanced Healthcare Innovation Institute (AAHII) was also inaugurated within the Indian Institute of Technology, Guwahati complex.
  • Officials said the AAHII will be a research and innovation centre in the area of medical sciences.
  • It includes a 500-bed ‘connected’ multi-speciality hospital spread over 12 acres.
• Aapke Dwar Ayushman campaign:
  • The Prime Minister also launched the Aapke Dwar Ayushman campaign by distributing Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana cards to 1.1 crore eligible beneficiaries. 

Significance

• The foundation stone of Assam Advanced Health Care Innovation Institute (AAHII) is a step towards realising the vision of ‘Atmnirbhar Bharat’ and ‘Make in India’ in the areas related to health. 
• The majority of technologies used in healthcare in the country are imported and developed in a different context, which is highly expensive and complex to operate in the Indian environment.

Healthcare in NorthEastern Region

• In recent years, the development of northeastern regions of India has increasingly been the focus of attention. 
• The Annual Report 2014–2015 of Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India, identi?ed the problems in the health sector in the northeastern states as: 
  • Shortage of trained medical manpower, 
  • Providing access to sparsely populated, remote, far ?ung areas, 
  • Improvement of Governance in the health sector, 
  • Need for improved quality of health services rendered,
  • Making effective and full utilization of existing facilities, 
  • Effective and timely utilization of existing facilities, 
  • Morbidity and mortality due to Malaria, 
  • High level of tobacco consumption and the associated high risk of cancer, and
  • High incidence of HIV/AIDS in Nagaland, Manipur and the increasing incidence in Mizoram and Meghalaya. 
• Government’s response:
  • The National Rural Health Mission (NRHM) was launched with the aim to provide effective health care to rural population throughout India with special emphasis on 18 states including all the 8 northeastern states namely Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Mizoram, Meghalaya, Nagaland, Sikkim and Tripura. 

Government initiatives for the development of North Eastern Region

• PM-DevINE:
  • Prime Minister’s Development Initiative for North East Region (PM-DevINE) is a new scheme for the Northeastern states which was announced in the Union Budget. 
  • The scheme will be operational for the remaining four years of the 15th Finance Commission, from 2022-23 to 2025-26, and will have an outlay of Rs 6,600 crore.
  • PM-DevINE will target: 
    • The creation of infrastructure, 
    • Support industries, 
    • Social development projects and 
    • Create livelihood activities for the youth and women, with a focus on job creation. 
    • These projects will include basic infrastructure in all primary healthcare centres and government schools.
• North East Special Infrastructure Development Scheme (NESIDS): 
  • The aim of the scheme is to enhance the physical infrastructure related to power, connectivity and water supply, and social infrastructure in the form of health infrastructure. It is a Central Sector Scheme.
• Northeast Desk: 
  • Under the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade, a dedicated Northeast Desk has been set up within Invest India,  which supports the Northeast  States in their outreach activities to the investors as well as in facilitating and handholding select companies.  
• NITI Forum for North East:
  • In collaboration with the NITI Aayog, the ‘NITI Forum for North East’ constituted for accelerated, inclusive and sustainable development in the North East Region has identified 5 focus sectors, viz. Tea, Tourism, Bamboo, Dairy and Pisciculture.
• Mission Organic Value Chain Development (MOVCD-NER): 
  • The program has been implemented in the North-Eastern states since 2017. The aim of the mission is to promote organic farming in the region. It seeks to replace traditional subsistence farming with a cluster-based approach. 
• Sub Mission on Seeds and Planting Material (SMSP): 
  • It aims to increase the availability of seeds of the High Yielding Varieties of crops. The overall objective is to double farmers’ income by 2022, as envisioned by the Government. The scheme is run alongside other support programs like Krishi Vigyan Kendras (KVKs), integrated farming systems etc.
• Connectivity Projects: 
  • To create alternate routes to the region and decrease its dependence on the Chicken’s Neck, the Indian government has planned additional routes through South East Asia like Kaladan Multi-Modal Transit Project, Bangladesh-China-India-Myanmar (BCIM) Corridor, etc.
  • India’s Look-East connectivity projects connect Northeast India to East Asia and ASEAN.
• Creation of separate ministry for the region:
  • The Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region is a Government of India ministry, established in September 2001.
  • It functions as the nodal Department of the Central Government to deal with matters related to the socio-economic development of the eight States of Northeast India.

Source: TH