CENTRAL GOVERNMENT OKAYS SETTING UP OF VIROLOGY INSTITUTE IN PUNJAB

CHANDIGARH:The central government has given an in-principle approval for setting up the north zone centre of the National Institute of Virology (NIV) in Punjab.

Chief minister Captain Amarinder Singh, who had sent the proposal in view of the ongoing pandemic in April, welcomed the move, saying that opening of the facility will prove to be a milestone for boosting research in the field of virology.

The chief minister’s office (CMO) said the chief secretary has received an approval from secretary (department of health research), asking the state government to identify 25 acre land on a long-term lease to enable the Indian Council for Medical Research (ICMR) to set up the facility at the earliest.

The CM said it will help make India future-ready to predict and detect viruses at the earliest so that necessary preventive steps can be taken.

“The centre will also go a long way in addressing the requirement of states of Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh and UTs of Chandigarh and Jammu and Kashmir, he added.

In a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Amarinder had proposed a specialised centre at Medicity, New Chandigarh. He had pointed out that the centre could easily be incubated at PGIMER, which is located only 7-8 kilometres from Medicity.

An estimated ₹400 crore would be required for the centre with BSL-3 facility and an additional ₹150 crore would be needed for BSL-4 facility besides land to be provided by the state government.

At present, the National Institute of Virology (NIV), Pune, is the only facility in India which is capable of providing medical and public health response to an emergency situation like Covid-19.

Pointing to the unprecedented crisis faced by the country amid Covid-19, the chief minister hoped that the new virology centre would be instrumental in providing diagnostic support, undertake research in basic virology, build capacity in the field to promote universal health coverage, develop rapid and affordable quality diagnostic assays for viral diseases, besides introduction of teaching courses for MSc and doctor of medicine (DM) in virology.

DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH RESEARCH HAS ASKED THE STATE TO IDENTIFY 25 ACRE LAND TO SET UP THE FACILITY AT THE EARLIEST; CM HAD PROPOSED THE CENTRE IN NEW CHANDIGARH