CGHS wellness center to be opened in Silchar; “Will propose IIFT” Rajdeep Roy

Member of Parliament, Rajdeep Roy held a virtual press conference today to discuss the questions he raised at the parliament and the responses that he has garnered so far. He questioned the house to state the reasons for delay in opening up of the CGHS wellness center at Silchar and whether the Government proposes to utilize the space available with the department of telecommunication at Silchar for opening the CGHS wellness center.

“The good news that I can share today is that the wellness centre will be formally opened within next 15 to 20 days,” said Roy. CGHS or Central Government Health Scheme is a government initiative that provides comprehensive medical care to the Central Government employees and pensioners enrolled under the scheme. CGHS caters to the healthcare needs of eligible beneficiaries covering all four pillars of democratic set up in India namely Legislature, Judiciary, Executive and Press. Presently approximately 35 lakh beneficiaries are covered by CGHS in 71 cities all over India and the endeavour is to include more cities to improve the accessibility of the services.

“More than 50,000 beneficiaries in an around Silchar will benefit from the wellness centre,” added Dr. Roy who thinks Silchar will emerge to be the hub of medical tourism. Silchar MP Rajdeep Roy had raised the issue last year in September. This year, Minister of State, Health and Family Welfare’s response read, “The Postal Dispensary at Silchar, Assam was taken over by Central Government Health Scheme (CGHS) w.e.f. 01.04.2019 on “as is where is” basis. At the time of takeover, neither the Postal Dispensary was functional nor was any building handed over at Silchar by Department of Posts.”

Since MP Roy’s question was about the delay, the MoS responded, “Also, no staff was made available by the Department of Posts to man the Wellness Centre. CGHS explored the options for accommodation to house the Wellness Centre. The Department of Posts offered two Type-IV Staff Quarters. These quarters have been taken over by CGHS and renovated to make them suitable for running a Wellness Centre. Furniture and other infrastructure have been provided. To run the Wellness Centre, one regular Medical Officer and one Pharmacist are posted and action has been taken to engage two Medical Officers, Nursing Officer and support staff on contract basis till regular incumbents are posted.”

Rajdeep Roy also questioned whether the Government plans to start a campus of the Indian Institute of Foreign Trade (IIFT) at Silchar considering the fact that Northeast shares 98% of its borders with foreign countries. Explaining the rationale behind the question, Dr. Roy said that the mentality in this region is that kid should grow up to be an engineer or doctor. An IIFT will open new dimension and help the entrepreneurs in the region.

The minister replied, “There is no proposal of the Government of India to start a campus of Indian Institute of Foreign Trade (IIFT) at Silchar as of now. The needs of the North-East Region are being catered to by the Kolkata Campus of IIFT.” Silchar MP said, this is the beginning. “Now that we know the status, we can move ahead with the proposal,” he added.

The Indian Institute of Foreign Trade (IIFT) is an autonomous civil service training institute for civil servants of Indian Trade Service cadre and global business school which offers courses such as Global BBA, Global MBA, Global Executive MBA and Global DBA. It was established in 1963 by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry , Government of India. IIFT was conferred the status of Deemed University in 2002. It conducts an autonomous entrance examination, named the IIFT Exam, across various centers in India, for admission into its Post Graduate Management Program.

Silchar MP also raised the issue of connection with Bangladesh’s Dhaka and Sylhet through Railways. He believes that if the communication between Bangladesh and Barak Valley is opened up, new business opportunities for the people of Barak Valley. Bangladesh, which just turned 50 is growing faster than India and Pakistan. The garment industry has become the world’s second largest, accounting for 11% of gdp and 80% of export revenue. Successive governments have helped mainly by getting out of the way, simplifying labour laws and removing import duties on inputs. This free-market approach was crucial in fomenting growth, says Fahmida Khatun of the Centre for Policy Dialogue, a think-tank in Dhaka. Rajdeep Roy sees the growing Bangladesh as an untapped yet lower-hanging opportunity for Barak Valley.

Rajdeep Roy said he will meet the Railway Minister and discuss the issue of Vista Dome special train which has been arbitrarily re-routed from preplanned Lumding-Badarpur section to New Haflong – Guwahati section. “I was not aware of the change in plan. If necessary, I will meet the MP of Karbi Anglong and the MP of Karimganj and together we will reach out to the new Railway Minister. We want the vista dome train to run between Lumding and Badarpur.