Chandigarh July 1: Haryana Chief Minister, Mr Manohar Lal today announced to institute a State Level Award in recognition of the outstanding contribution of doctors in the field of medical science. The award would be conferred every year upon two doctors each (one government and one private) in all 22 districts of the State.

Mr Manohar Lal was addressing the doctors and those associated with the medical profession at a state level programme organize to commemorate Doctor’s Day at Panchkula near here today. Health and Family Welfare Minister Mr Anil Vij and MLA Kalka Mrs Latika Sharma were also present.

On this occasion, he also announced that that Doctor’s Day would be celebrated every year at State level.

Earlier, the Chief Minister dedicated three health projects to the people of district Sirsa through video conferencing. He inaugurated Community Health Centre (CHC) Sadho Singhana and two Primary Health Centres (PHCs) at Dadba Kalan and Jamal by pressing the remote.

Mr Manohar said that in order to meet the demand of medical specialists in the State, efforts would be made to increase the number of seats in DM/MCH (Super-Specialty courses) in the medical institutions. The State Government has prepared a scheme for increasing the number of Medical Colleges in the State. In year 2014, there were only 700 seats of MBBS in the Medical Colleges but within a period of just 5 years the number of seats has increased to more than double as the figure has reached to 1710. He said that the number of MBBS seats in the State would be further increased to 2000 by end of next year.

While congratulating the doctors on this occasion, the Chief Minister said that it was for the first time that the present State Government has decided to celebrate Doctor’s Day at a grand scale. Apart from the State Level programme in Panchkula, the Doctor’s Day has been celebrated simultaneously in all districts of the State. Though, it should have been observed way earlier, but no one has given any attention towards honouring the medical fraternity. National Doctor’s Day is celebrated on July 1 every year in the country to honour the legendary physician Dr Bidhan Chandra Roy who was born on July 1, 1882 and died on the same date in 1962. Dr Roy was also honoured with the country’s highest civilian award ‘Bharat Ratna’. He also remained Chief Minister of Bengal for 14 years.

The Chief Minister said that in view of the increasing population, not only the number of hospitals has been increased in the State but also ultra modern infrastructure facilities have been provided for giving better health care facilities to its people. Apart from this, facilities like MRI, CT scan, Cath Labs and dialysis have been made available in government hospitals. He said that though the medical science saw a lot of advancement owing to various research in the field yet there a need to carry out a research to ascertain as to why different disease happen. He said that apart from curative methods, preventive measures should also be adopted so as to keep the diseases at bay and remain healthy.

He said that the State Government has been encouraging the people to adopt yoga in their lives. He also thanked Prime Minister Mr Narendra Modi for his efforts to get Yoga recognition at international level. He said that the State Government has recently constituted Yog Parishad so as to encourage people of all walks of life to make Yoga part of their lives and stay healthy.

He also exhorted the doctors to take up their profession as a mission and work selflessly for the welfare of poor and downtrodden.

Earlier, the Chief Minister honoured three doctors who are also the Padama Shree Awardee with shawl, Bhagwad Gita and memento. They included Dr Amod Gupta, Prof. Dr P.R Goyal and Dr Narender Kumar Pandey. Apart from this, he also honoured four doctors for their outstanding contribution in the field of medical science. They included Major Gen. Chand Kishore Jamkhola, Dr S.K Sharma, Dr N.K Arora and Dr Kuldeep Khokhar.

Speaking on this occasion, Health and Family Welfare Minister Mr Anil Vij described medical as a noble profession and said that it is also considered as a leading profession among all other professions. He said that health and education are among the priority sectors of any government. As a result of efforts made by the present State Government, the health parameters have been significantly improved in the State. Even in the NITI Ayog ranking, Haryana has achieved number one position in terms of improving health standards.

He said that the Infant Mortality Rate (IMR) has been reduced from 41 to 30 and Maternal Mortality Rate (MMR) from 127 to 101. Mr Vij said that with a view to provide safe and secure atmosphere to the doctors in the State, he has written to Director General, Home Guards to depute home guards round the clock in the hospitals for the security of the doctors.

Among those present on this occasion included Additional Chief Secretary Medical Education and Research Mr Amit Jha and other senior officers of Health and Family Welfare Department.