HT Correspondent

Chandigarh@hindustantimes.com

Mohali : Giving a push to alternative systems of medicine, health and family welfare minister Balbir Singh Sidhu and member of Parliament Preneet Kaur on Thursday laid the foundation stone of a ₹7 crore, 50-bed Ayurvedic, Yoga and Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha and Homeopathy (AYUSH) Hospital at Dayalpura village in Mohali.

Speaking at the state-level inauguration event at the village, Sidhu said the first AYUSH hospital in the state will be built on more than nine acres of land donated by a family in the village.

Check-up and treatment services under various systems defined by AYUSH will be offered at the hospital which is expected to be completed within ayear.

“This is a valuable gift for the people of the state on the 550 birth anniversary of Guru Nanak Dev JI. Once the hospital is completed, people will not have to go to the southern states for Naturopathy treatment of their diseases,” Sidhu added.

As demanded by locals, Sidhu also announced that the community health centre at Dhakoli near Zirakpur will soon be upgraded to a 50-bed sub-divisional hospital (SDH) so that round-the-clock emergency services and specialist doctors’ services can be made available there.

He said the decision has been taken in view of the increasing population of the area.

Speaking on the occasion, Preneet Kaur thanked the Sodhi family of Dayalpura for donating the land for the hospital.

Stressing on the importance of naturopathy treatments, she said people were now showing a lot of interest in natural ways of treatment which helped the body heal itself.

The AYUSH hospital she said will prove to be a boon for residents in the area.

Among the prominent personalities present on the occasion were managing director, Punjab Health System Corporation, and commissioner AYUSH, Manvesh Singh Sidhu, Congress district president Deepinder Singh Dhillon, Punjab infotech chairman SMS Sandhu, political secretary to the health minister Harkesh Chand Sharma Machhli Kalan; ADC (D) Aashika Jain, director Ayurveda Punjab Dr Rakesh Sharma and civil surgeon Mohali Manjit Singh .

The ministry of Ayurveda, Yoga and Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha, Sowa Rigpa and Homoeopathy, abbreviated as AYUSH, develops and promotes education and research in the field of alternative medicine. The department of Indian system of medicine and Homoeopathy (ISM and H), launched in March 1995, under the ministry of health and family welfare, was renamed AYUSH in November 2003