Rajnath Singh inaugurates 100-bed ESIC hospital in Sarojini Nagar
LUCKNOW:Union home minister Rajnath Singh along with union minister of labour and employment (independent charge) Bandaru Dattatreya inaugurated the 100-bed Employees’ State Insurance Corporation (ESIC) hospital and trauma centre at Sarojini Nagar on Wednesday.
The trauma centre and hospital will also facilitate Ayurveda, Unani and yoga treatment.
Speaking on the occasion, Rajnath Singh said: “I don’t know whether the hospital is operated by the state government or the centre, but I want this hospital to run well and serve humanity.”
“Our policies are such that eradicate fear and infuse a sense of confidence among people. Schemes like Jandhan Yojana, Atal Beema Yojana and pension scheme have removed fear from people’s minds. The idea is to create a sense of security,” he said.
He said, “Till now people use to set priority of roti, kapda aur makaan. But we have added two more dimensions to it - now it is roti, kapda, makaan, education and health.”
He said the government had a lot for the labour sector and poor and promises to do more.
While some of his colleagues had already started to raise the Ram temple bogey, Rajnath ducked a question on his agenda for the state assembly elections.
The minister said he didn’t have any knowledge about any statement issued by any leader of UP BJP. He said, “We have many issues to raise, for example law and order, transparency, development in the state. The BJP can cash in on many other issues to come to power.”
Speaking on the occasion, Bandaru Dattareya said: “At present, there are 120 ESI dispensaries in UP, but if the Akhilesh Yadav government gives us land, the centre is willing to open 40 more ESI hospitals in the state with an investment of `900 crore.”
“There is a 50-bed ESI hospital in Varanasi. If the state gives it to the centre, the government will upgrade it to a super specialty facility. Similarly, the 300-bed hospital of Kanpur would also be upgraded to super specialty centre,” he said.
Over the recent controversy over PF withdrawal restrictions, Dattatreya said, “The decision was taken after due consultation with the union leaders and their representatives who wanted a good amount of cash available at the time of retirement. But somehow there were protests, so we decided to roll back the decision.” “The decision was not a mistake but yes sometimes you learn by these experiences,” he said.
Chief minister Akhilesh Yadav who was the chief guest for the occasion couldn’t make it to the programme.
Member of parliament Naresh Agarwal who had given his consent for the programme was not present, while minister of labour and employment (UP) Shahid Manzoor also chose to stay away from the programme.
However, MLA of the area Sharda Pratap Shukla, along with officials of the labour and employment department were present on the occasion.