Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur on May 12 said that a medical university would be established in the state soon for effective management of all the six medical colleges of the state.
 

The Chief Minister was addressing a gathering on the occasion of the International Nursing Day function organized by the Trained Nurses Association of India, Himachal Chapter at IGMC Shimla. He said that Florence Nightingale was a symbol of love, care, selfless service and inspiration for not only nursing profession but also the whole humanity. "The profession of nursing was in fact indebted to the life of Florence Nightingale, as she not only pioneered the profession, but also made nursing profession recognized universally. Nurses work with compassion and care for the speedy recovery of the patients who expect a humane behavior and conduct from the doctors and other paramedical staff. Our behavior should be in such a way that it helps in fast recovery of patients," said CM.

Lauding his government, Thakur said the state government had taken several initiatives in the health sector in last four months. "The posts of 262 doctors were filled and process was on to fill over 200 more posts of doctors and 2000 paramedical staff for strengthening the health institutions. Efforts would be made to make Himachal Pradesh as number one state in health indicators in the country", Cm added.

The Chief Minister has announced that 13 month salary being given to the nurses would be given as per the new enhanced basic pay and grade pay instead of earlier salary and pay band. He also announced to enhance daily diet allowance of nurses from Rs 6 to Rs 25. Thakur also criticized the previous Congress government during the function. "The previous state government announced opening of 16 degree colleges in the state by making a provision of Rs 1 lakh for each degree college. But several health institutions were opened in the state during the fag end of its tenure without making budget provisions and provision of staff," said Jai Ram Thakur.

While expressing concern over the increasing cases of drug abuse, the CM said it become duty of each one of us to work collectively for the making the society drug-free. "The parents should keep check on the activities of their children. He said increasing influence of western culture on our society, particularly on youth was a biggest challenge. The state government was committed to curb this social menace and urged the medial professionals to provide proper counseling to affected youth," said Thakur