CM Yogi Adityanath inaugurates PICU units at two CHCs that will benefit 5 lakh children

Gorakhpur: In the progress of child health facilities, district Gorakhpur moved one step further on Monday with the inauguration of the newly constructed PICU (Pediatric Intensive Care Unit) at Jangal Kauria and Chargaon (Khuthan) Community Health Centers (CHCs) by Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath.

These PICUs have been constructed by Hindustan Urvarak & Rasayan Limited (Hurl) with the Corporate Environment Responsibility (CER) Fund and benefit five lakh children, including 2.5 lakh residents each of at Jangal Kauria and Chargaon.

Speaking on the occasion, the Chief Minister said that due to the strengthening of health facilities in the state, the death rate is coming down considerably, adding that with stronger health facilities, more infant, maternal and other mortality rates can be controlled.

Up to 96% deaths due to encephalitis controlled in UP

आज होलिका दहन के अवसर पर गोरखपुर में आयोजित भक्त प्रह्लाद की शोभायात्रा में… pic.twitter.com/wPariJr09E

— Yogi Adityanath (@myogiadityanath) March 6, 2023

Explaining the importance of PICU at health centres, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath said that eastern Uttar Pradesh was in the grip of encephalitis for a long time claiming 50,000 lives of children in four decades between 1977-78 and 2017-18 for not getting timely treatment. He added that his government started a programme in 2017-18 to control the disease by enhancing health facilities under which PICUs and mini PICUs were set up at district hospitals and Community Health Centers. This resulted in controlling deaths due to encephalitis by 96 percent. Earlier, 1200 to 1500 children died of the disease while this number has come down to almost zero today, he added.

Focus should be on prevention of encephalitis

The Chief Minister stressed the importance of focusing on prevention of encephalitis by raising awareness about cleanliness, consumption of pure drinking water, use of toilets, hygiene, vaccination etc, pointing out that the government is running special campaigns for control of communicable diseases three to four times a year for prevention and awareness. Along with this, health facilities are also being strengthened continuously.

CM Yogi said that the experience of the efforts made to control encephalitis was very useful in the management of the novel coronavirus as well. “Earlier there were not even a single ICU bed in 36 districts and today 7,000 ICU beds are only for children in Uttar Pradesh”, he remarked.

No shortage of fertilizers, thanks to Hurl

CM Yogi said that after about 31 years, Hindustan Fertilizers and Chemicals Limited (Hurl) has started production of fertilizers in place of the closed factory of FCI and is producing 100 percent of its capacity, leaving no room for any shortage of fertilizers for farmers. The foundation stone of Hurl was laid by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who also inaugurated it. Farmers got fertilizers on time even during the Corona period. Uttar Pradesh as well as Bihar and neighboring states are getting the benefit of this factory, CM said.

Hurl taking forward social commitments

बुराई पर अच्छाई की विजय के प्रतीक ‘होलिका दहन’ के अवसर पर गोरखपुर में आयोजित शोभायात्रा में… https://t.co/gpBkxg7gmc

— Yogi Adityanath (@myogiadityanath) March 6, 2023

Thanking Hurl for setting up PICU, CM Yogi said that along with compost production, it is taking forward its social commitments. “Hurl has taken several initiatives in the field of education, skill development and health programmes. On its behalf, the process of setting up pediatric ICUs in 17 health centers has been started while construction of two has been completed. The services of specialist doctors will be available here. Gorakhpur Development Authority as an executive body will also maintain it for three years”, CM Yogi said. The CM expressed confidence that the construction of Pediatric ICUs at the remaining 15 health centers would be completed in the next three months.

On this occasion, MP Ravikishan Shukla, MLA Fateh Bahadur Singh, Mahendrapal Singh, Divisional Commissioner Ravi Kumar NG, District Magistrate Krishna Karunesh, GDA Vice President Mahendra Singh Tanwar, Block Chief Jungle Kaudia Brijesh Yadav, Bharohiya Sanjay Singh, Chargawan Mrs. Vandana Singh, Former Chief Gorakh Singh , Chairman, Uttar Pradesh Fisheries Development Corporation, Ramakant Nishad, Managing Director, Dr. SP Mohanty, VK Dixit, Senior Vice President (HRL Gorakhpur Unit), Sanjay Chawla, General Manager CER (HRL Headquarters), on behalf of Hindustan Urvarak Evam Rasayan Limited (HRL), Mrs. Indu Balakrishna, DGM HR (HERL HQ), Subodh Dixit, Chief Manager HR (HERL Gorakhpur Unit), Ashutosh Chandan, Manager HR (HERL Gorakhpur Unit), Sunil Uniyal, Manager CER/ Marketing (HERL HQ), Manmohan V. Soman, Head Infra, on behalf of Tata Consulting Engineers, the consulting firm, and Rajesh Tripathi, Managing Director and other officers, on behalf of Harsh Enterprises, the implementing firm, were present.

Hurl is spending Rs 24.71 crores to set up PICUs at 17 health centers

Hindustan Urvarak Evam Rasayan Limited, Gorakhpur Unit’s Corporate Environment Responsibility (CER) Fund is being used to construct 17 PICUs in different phases at 17 community health centers at a cost of about Rs 24.71 crores in the district. At present, the construction process of two medical units (Jungle Kauria and Chargawan Khuthan) has been completed. The main objective of this project is to reduce the child mortality rate through use of latest equipment in pediatrics at the district level.