Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari (file photo)
Union minister Nitin Gadkari on Saturday said that the country needs at least 600 medical colleges, 50 AIIMS-like institutions and 200 super-speciality hospitals. He further called for replicating the infrastructure development sector's public-private partnership model in the health care and education sectors and added that cooperative sector must also come forward to set up medical facilities. The minister was addressing the felicitation gathering of COVID-19 warriors in Karad, Maharashtra.
"Once during a discussion with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, I told him about the scarcity of ventilators. He asked me how many ventilators were there in the country, to which I replied there must be around 2.5 lakh. But he told me that there were only 13,000 ventilators when the coronavirus pandemic broke out in the country," Union Minister Gadkari said, noting that there was a shortage of oxygen, beds, and other medical facilities at the time. Gadkari also appreciated the work of doctors, paramedical, nurses who helped during those times. Apart from the government-run hospitals, the contribution of medical facilities set up by the cooperative and private sectors was commendable, the minister said.
"The public-private investment model in the road and infrastructure development sector can be replicated in health care and education sectors. The country needs a minimum of 600 medical colleges, 50 AIIMS-like institutions and 200 super-specialty hospitals. The government is also thinking of providing help to those social organisations that work in medical and education sectors," Gadkari said. He further added that there is a need to have at least one veterinary hospital in every tehsil.