11 mother and child hubs to come up in Bengal: Minister

Kolkata, Jan 25 (IANS) The West Bengal government plans to set up 11 state of the art mother and child hubs in various districts, Minister of State for Health Chandrima Bhattacharya said Friday.

“We have taken up a project for setting up 11 mother and child hubs in various districts. Soon we will be working upon it and I think they will be operational very soon,” said Bhattacharya at a meeting with representatives of 18 city hospitals at the Bengal Chamber of Commerce.

The mother and child hubs are supposed to provide all the health care facilities right after conception to delivery of the newborn and also make provision for special treatment for the infants in case of any abnormality.

According to the minister, Rs.20 crore has been invested for the mother and child hub at the Calcutta National Medical College.

Exhorting the private sector to join hands with the state government in offering health services to all, Bhattacharya highlighted the the government’s goal to open 35 fair price shops by the end of the financial year.

“We have opened fair price shops and so far 15 to 16 are functioning. For this we have joined hands with the private sector,” she said.

IANS 2013-01-25 23:46:02