Spread the love
Shillong: Union Minister Sarbananda Sonowal on Monday inaugurated six buildings as part of the Project II of North Eastern Institute of Ayurveda & Homoeopathy (NEIAH) for capacity expansion. The cost of the construction of these new buildings is estimated at more than Rs 60 crores.
Addressing the media and other participants, the Minister of Ports, Shipping and Waterways and Ayush said, “It gives me immense pleasure that we have been able to open up these six new buildings in Shillong today. They will expand the capacity of this premier institute which can play an instrumental role in furthering the role of traditional medicine in the region.”
“We see a huge role of integrative medicine in the healthcare solutions delivery system of the country in the forthcoming years. The investment made by the government through these new buildings will embolden our effort to rejuvenate traditional medicine in this region of the country. I am happy to inform you that NEIAH will be starting its ambulance services soon,” he added.
The new buildings will have boys’ and girls’ hostels, each with a capacity to accommodate 104 occupants, eight units of Type III quarter, six units of Type IVA Quarter, seven units of Type IVB cum director’s residence, a senior resident hostel with 25 units, and a guest house with 19 rooms and two suites. The buildings were made with an estimated cost of Rs 60.16 crore.
Speaking about the role of the region in traditional medicine, Sonowal said, “Our North East is blessed by Mother Earth whose natural bounty has helped us heal for many generations. We simply want to take this process forward so that it can help many more people and help them live a better quality of life… With the continuous impetus to build and expand capacity for research and build a scientific base for traditional medicine, I believe the six new buildings inaugurated today will play a crucial role for NEIAH towards the achievement of this objective.”
NEIAH has witnessed a steady growth in patients as more people are experiencing better results at the hospital.
In FY2022-23, the hospital saw a footfall of 52,088 patients in its OPD clinics while 504 patients were admitted as IPD patients for healing and recovery. In Ayurveda, NEIAH saw a footfall of 36,683 patients at the OPD clinics and 482 patients got admitted to the IPD section of the university.
In Homoeopathy, the footfall in its OPD clinics was 19,397 while 22 patients got admitted under it. As many as 35 health camps and four Continuing Medical Education programmes were conducted by NEIAH during the same period.
