The Union Cabinet on Thursday (5th February) gave its nod to upgrade five existing government medical colleges to the level of AIIMS. Among the proposed five AIIMS-like medical institutions two will come up in West Bengal and UP. The estimated cost of each project in UP and West Bengal is Rs 823 crores.

 

The proposed institution in Bengal will come up at Raiganj in North Dinajpur district. However, the site for the proposed AIIMS-like hospital in UP is yet to be identified. Home minister P Chidambaram informed the media about the cabinet decisions after the meeting of the union cabinet.  

 

To secure the health and safety of workers at workplace the   cabinet also approved a decision to have a National Policy on Health and Environment at workplace.

 

Chidambaram said that, the National policy provides general guidelines for all the stakeholders such as the governments, inspection authorities, employers, research and development institutions and educational institutions for developing a safety culture and environment at workplaces.

 

He further added that, the policy envisages actions for improving safety, health and environment at workplace by providing for statutory framework, system incentives, administrative and technical support, preventions strategies and their monitoring.