Under the visionary leadership of Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje and NHM Director Naveen Jain, Rajasthan has been fabulous in making healthcare accessible, affordable and cost-efficient, with the State taking a giant leap in women and child care, according to Banshidhar Khandela Minister of State for Medical, Health & Family Welfare, Government of Rajasthan.

The minister was speaking at the 4th Annual Healthcare Summit in Jaipur recently. It was organised by the National Health Mission, Department of Medical, Health and Family Welfare, Government of Rajasthan, jointly with Elets Technomedia.

“We have also improved the sex ratio from 888 to 950 in four years and implemented 100 percent of the budget announcement. There was a time when gender discrimination was on its peak and considered as a widespread menace. With our painstaking efforts, the mindset has changed and people have started to acknowledge the importance of their girl child,” Khandela said.

Talking about how the State has made progress on this front, the Rajasthan minister said, “Our percentage of institutional delivery has also increased to 80 to 90 percent. The State has successfully implemented the Pre-Conception and Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques (PC-PNDT) Act, under which many culprits have been sent into jail. Today, in terms of providing healthcare to the last mile, Rajasthan has become a role model for other States.”

“Through the PPP (Public Private Partnership) framework, GVK EMRI is running an emergency service, through which an ambulance service reaches to the patients living in remote areas within 30 minutes. This service is proving to be a boon to cater expecting mothers. It is also helpful to drop them home safely after delivery,” the minister added.

Underlining the State Government’s achievement in healthcare sector, Khandela said, “We’ve almost doubled our health budget and the number of medicines to make every citizen a beneficiary of States health schemes. A total of 25 lakh citizens have been treated under Bhamashah scheme and claim of worth Rs 1,750 crore has already been paid. “Our CM has been working painstakingly to make Rajasthan a disease-free State and only because of her efforts, a citizen below the poverty line can get treatment under the biggest hospital brands and can avail claim up to Rs 3 lakh for tertiary care,” the minister said.