The health ministry and railways on Friday signed an agreement to jointly set up around 500 healthcare facilities - hospitals, diagnostic centres and super-specialty hospitals - on vacant railway land.
Sources said land for opening 361 diagnostic centres, 88 second-level medical units with over 100-bed hospitals and 41 multi-specialty medical facilities around railway tracks had already being identified.
To begin with, health ministry will start working on the diagnostic centres at major railway stations and junctions across the country.
"The initiative will benefit passengers, employees and common people living around railway stations," railway minister Mamata Banerjee said after signing the MoU.
Health minister Ghulam Nabi Azad termed the decision a "historic" one. A health ministry official said Rs 1 crore would be needed initially to set up diagnostic centres.
To speed up the implementation process, both the ministries have agreed to set up high-power working group to work out a time-bound framework for early identification of specific projects which could be taken up on priority basis.
Railways believes the move will benefit a large number of people at a time state governments are constrained to expand healthcare facilities due to non-availability of land.
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