He was speaking to the media after launching the Deen Dayal Swasthya Seva Yojana (DDSSY), Vasco centre, at Chicalim Cottage Hospital on Monday evening. RDA Minister and Cortalim MLA Alina Saldanha, Vasco MLA Carlos Almeida, MMC Chairperson Deepak Naik and others were present on the occasion.
“The State BJP government has proposed a 500-bed, super-speciality block at GMC, which will be constructed at a cost of Rs 450 crore, of which Rs 120 crore will be funded by the Centre. The foundation stone for the same is likely to be laid at the hands of Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his visit to Goa in August,” said D’Souza, who is also the Health Minister.
He further said, “Earlier, we had proposed a 200-bed, super-speciality block at GMC, but as the Centre has decided to release funds of Rs 120 crore for the project, we decided to enhance the number of beds to 500. Also, GMC already has equipment for eight super-specialities; the equipment needed for the other three – endocrinology, oncology and liver transplant – will have to be set up.”
Commenting on the DDSSY, D’Souza said, “Goa will have 17 centers, which will provide registration facilities to the people across Goa.”
Meanwhile, RDA Minister Alina Saldanha said that such an insurance scheme would benefit all sections of society in Goa, and thus, instead of looking for loopholes, people should extend support to the government to take this scheme to each Goan.
Vasco MLA Carlos Almeida requested all skeptics of the scheme to sit across the table with BJP leaders, who would clear all their doubts on.
