Railways envisages OPDs at stations

Last updated on: February 06, 2010 10:34 IST

In a historic move, the Indian Railways and the Ministry of Health have signed a Memorandum of Understanding to build hospitals and OPDs at railway stations and on Railway land.

According to Minister of State for Health Dinesh Trivedi, "It is a historic move that the entire world will notice. Indian Railways have plenty of land in urban and rural India. We will invite private and public players to start heath facilities on the station premises."

Indian Railways has taken a big leap forward for their commuters to provide Out Patient facilities at more than 300 stations.

Trivedi told rediff.com, "With this MoU, we have reached out to almost half the Indian population, which travels by trains."

Trivedi said, the MoU would make way to invite, under private-public

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partnership schemes, proposals to build hospitals, dispensaries, health centres for diagnosis and Out patient departments on railway properties.

Trivedi said Indian Railways has already earmarked the land for 33 large hospitals. Each hospital is to be built on 20 acres of land. Eighty four medium-sized clinics are to be made on land leased by Railways while 363 station-based OPDs will be built to handle passengers requiring medical facilities.

Indian Railways, one of the largest land holders in the country, has released land for public purposes other than their own use, for the first time. This move will invite a massive investment in the Healthcare sector and will give big boost to the importers of medical equipments and hospital items. It will also create job opportunities for the medical fraternity, Trivedi explained.

Sheela Bhatt in New Delhi