Imkong Walling
Dimapur | June 7
A complete overhaul of two government district hospitals in Nagaland is in the offing under the National Rural Health Mission. Mon and Dimapur district hospitals will be the beneficiaries if the venture sees the light of day.
Informed sources state that hectic negotiations between officials of the Union Ministry of Health & Family Welfare and the state government are ongoing to finalise the plan. The sources said that the ‘Detailed Project Report’ for the two hospitals submitted by the state government was approved and “agreed to in principle” by the Union Health Ministry in Delhi about a week back. It was followed by four Ministry officials visiting the state on a site inspection trip. The team, led by an Assistant Commissioner (Maternal Health) visited the district hospital, Dimapur on June 6 and was scheduled to leave on June 8. The team could not visit Mon.
The costs for the upgradation plan is estimated at Rs. 20-25 crore each for the two hospitals though the final say lies with the Union Health Ministry, or rather the report of the inspection team. Nevertheless, the negotiations are said to be progressing positively. Groundwork for the actual upgradation/renovation is expected to begin by June-end.
The plan is to upgrade the decrepit 150-bedded district hospital, Dimapur to a 200-bedded facility. It includes the construction of a new building within the hospital campus while the existing structure will remain. Mon district hospital will be upgraded to a 100-bedded facility from the present 50. For Mon, negotiations are said to have finished and only awaiting final approval.
