Amarnath Yatra
Centre deploys abundant medicos, sets up hospitals to assist Amarnath Yatra devotees
New Delhi/UNI: A sleuth of measures have been taken to allow devotees taking Amarnath Yatra to have access to the medical and healthcare facilities, the Union Health Ministry said on Thursday.
The Ministry said it has deployed medical professionals both from central and state governments to assist the devotees during their journey which started today onwards.
For this, state governments have been informed about the required arrangements along with medical preparation including services of specialist doctors, as well as General Duty Medical Officers (GDMOs) to supplement the efforts of the Jammu & Kashmir Government, particularly by those States from where large numbers of pilgrims arrive, it added.
"For attending medical emergencies, health professionals including doctors and paramedics will be deployed in batches. The first batch commenced on 25th June 2022 - 13th July 2022. Second and third batches would start from 11th July 2022 - 28th July 2022 and 26th July 2022 - 11th August 2022," the Union Ministry said in its statement.
According to the Union Health Ministry, the Government of J&K through the Director Health Services (DHS Kashmir) had requested 155 medical personnel (87 doctors, 68 paramedics) from Central Government Hospitals and CGHS.
"Medical professionals are being deployed from Central Government hospitals and CGHS. In total, 176 nominations (115 doctors and 61 paramedics) have been received from the Centre-run hospitals and the CGHS. The complete list has been communicated to DHS Kashmir for further deployment," the ministry officials informed.
Besides, 154 doctors and 283 paramedics are being deployed from 11 states and UTs of Delhi, Haryana, Rajasthan, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Bihar, Gujarat, West Bengal, and Maharashtra upon the request of DHS Kashmir, they added.
The Union Health Ministry also facilitated the set-up of two 50-bedded hospitals at the Baltal and Chandanwari with the help of DRDO.
"For the two 50-bedded hospitals, an additional requirement of staff (129 each from UT of U & K; and MoHFW) was requested from DHS Kashmir. The surplus buffer manpower available with MoHFW [through the Central Government Hospitals and CGHS and those nominated by States] was provided to the state health authority for further deployment," the Union Ministry informed.
The annual pilgrimage of Amarnath Yatra began this year on Thursday after a gap of three years and the authorities are expecting to see higher-than-usual attendance.
In 2019, the Yatra was cancelled midway ahead of the Centre abrogating Article 370 provisions of the Constitution.
The pilgrimage did not take place in 2020 and 2021 due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
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