Bhubaneswar: Health minister Mukesh Mahaling on Thursday laid the foundation stone for upgrade of the 100-bed Govt Ayurvedic Hospital here and construction of a pharmacy warehouse building.The project is aimed at strengthening govt ayurvedic healthcare infrastructure in the state and improving treatment facilities for patients.Mahaling said the hospital upgrade would help enhance quality of services and create a more patient-friendly environment. The proposed pharmacy warehouse building would ensure better storage and management of medicines and essential supplies. He said the govt’s focus is on making safe, quality, scientifically standardised and patient-centric ayurvedic healthcare more accessible to the public. Free testing and medicine facilities under Nirāmaya and Nidāna have also helped make services more people-oriented.The state govt has also granted administrative approval for a new ayurvedic medical college and hospital at Murugaghutu in Rairangpur of Mayurbhanj district.Contractual remuneration for lecturers has been fixed at Rs 70,000 per month, while the pay for readers and professors has been raised to Rs 80,000 and Rs 1 lakh per month, respectively. The monthly stipend for students of govt ayurvedic and homoeopathic medical colleges has been increased from Rs 17,000 to Rs 30,000.The stipend for first, second and third-year PG students has also been raised to Rs 48,000, Rs 52,000 and Rs 55,000 per month, respectively.
