As many as 500 Urban Health and Wellness Centres (UHWCs), spread across the state were virtually inaugurated by Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin in Chennai on Tuesday, 6 June.
In his launch address, Stalin said the Dravidian model of governance regarded education and healthcare as its “two eyes”. He further said that the government accordingly implemented schemes.
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Primary Health Centres
As regards the UHWCs, these are intended to function as ancillary units of Urban Primary Health Centres. The UHWCs are located in areas under civic bodies such as corporations, including the Greater Chennai Corporation and municipalities.
Madurai, Coimbatore, Tirunelveli, Thoothukudi, and Vellore were among the regions where the services could be availed, an official release said.
Each UHWC was set up for ₹25 lakh. In total, ₹125 Crore is the cost of the initiative to set up the 500 new UHWCs.
A doctor, nurse, health inspector and sanitary worker would be on duty in every UHWC. The health centres would work between 8 AM to noon and from 4 PM to 8 PM. They would cater to about 25,000 people in a given area.
Totally, 500 doctors, as many nurses, health inspectors, and sanitary workers have been appointed. The UHWCs would offer a wide range of healthcare services including maternity care and yoga.
Health Minister Ma Subramanian, Youth Welfare Minister Udhayanidhi Stalin and top officials participated.
தமிழ்நாட்டின் வலிமையான மருத்துவக் கட்டமைப்புக்கு அடித்தளம் கிராமப்புற ஆரம்ப சுகாதார நிலையங்கள். அத்தகைய கட்டமைப்பை நகரங்களுக்கும் விரிவுபடுத்தி, நகரத்தில் வாழும் எளிய மக்களின் மருத்துவத் தேவைகளை நிறைவேற்றும் நோக்கில் மாநகராட்சிகள் மற்றும் நகராட்சிகளில் உள்ள 500 இடங்களில்… pic.twitter.com/4EBcsF43Lg
— M.K.Stalin (@mkstalin) June 6, 2023
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Stalin’s swipe at Guv Ravi
“Tamil Nadu excelled in sectors such as education, the development of the state, and fulfilling the aspirations of the people. However, this could not be seen or understood by a person who held the top position in the state,” Stalin said in an implicit reference to Governor RN Ravi.
Without naming Ravi again, Stalin said ‘he’ (Governor) did not accept the Dravidian model of governance and hence made criticisms against the government to confuse people.
“People will not bother about it at all. People have understood everything clearly. Let him make such criticism continuously,” the Chief Minister said, adding such remarks would only further invigorate them.
The CM listed healthcare schemes initiated during the previous DMK regimes when the late M Karunanidhi (1924-2018) was the chief minister. Also, Stalin listed a slew of healthcare schemes launched under his leadership in 2021.
Background
On 5 June, Governor reportedly remarked that investors would ‘not come’ merely because they were asked to do so. It was seen as a veiled attack on Stalin, who recently undertook a trip to Singapore and Japan to woo investors.
Finance Minister Thangam Thennarasu earlier in the day said Ravi belittled the foreign visit of Stalin, who was striving to improve the economy of the state by attracting foreign investments.
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