The state administrative council which met here Friday under the chairmanship of governor Satya Pal Malik approved the state healthcare investment policy, 2019, and also took a slew of other decisions.
An official spokesman said the salient features of thepolicy include: 30% subsidy on capital investment to be provided for setting upof multi-specialty hospitals, super-specialty hospitals, medical, nursing andparamedical colleges; interest subsidy @5% per-annum on term loan subject to aceiling of Rs 15 lakh per-year for five years from the date ofoperationalisation of the project; Subsidised power tariff rates as applicableto the industries sector;
100% subsidy on purchase and installation of DG sets withupper ceiling of Rs 45 lakh; One-time subsidy upto 25% of the cost incurred oninduction training of nursing and paramedical staff will be provided by thestate government, capped at a maximum of Rs 12,000 per-person; Thepromoters/investors setting up the project shall be free to establish the uniton their own property/acquired land subject to eligibility of the same as perdefined land use; Allotment of land at premium rates as applicable underindustrial policy-2016 through land bank to be created through SIDCO and SICOP;for multi/super-specialty hospitals to be set up outside municipal corporationlimits, land up to 5 acre for 200-bedded hospitals and up to 10 acre for500-bedded hospitals will be provided subject to the availability of land;minimum capital investment required is Rs 80 crore for 200-bedded hospitals andRs 200 crore for 500-bedded hospitals, within a period of five years; medicalcolleges being set up outside municipal corporation limits will be providedland up to 25 acre at a token premium of Rs 1 per-kanal, subject to theavailability of land; Single-window clearance mechanism will be adopted forprocessing the project proposals with final approval to be accorded by apexlevel project clearance committee (ALPCC).
“Under the policy, the government may declare a well-definedgeographical area as ‘medical city’ for having potential and being conducivefor development and promoting medical tourism in the state,” the spokesmansaid, adding that the Policy aims to “promote and encourage private parties andentrepreneurs to set up healthcare infrastructure in the state for which thegovernment shall provide subsidies on various fronts to the entrepreneurs.”
“The policy has been drafted after extensive deliberationsin the health department and is expected to improve accessibility of qualityhealthcare services to the people, promote establishment of hospitalinfrastructure, medical and allied educational infrastructure and establishJammu and Kashmir as a destination of choice for healthcare service providersin the private sector, besides promoting medical tourism,” the statement read.
The SAC said the private healthcare sector in J&K hasnot come up like in other states with around 80 percent of the healthcarefacilities being provided by the public sector.
“In the absence of private sector, there is huge rush ofpatients in the government institutions which affects the quality ofpatient-care available. There are many primary health centres and sub-centresfunctioning from rented buildings with some being under staffed. As per theIndian Public Health Standards norms, J&K still requires 69 new communityhealth centres, 222 PHCs and 1396 sub-centers. Even for implementation ofAyushmaan Bharat, hospitals, nursing homes would be required in private sectorfor its implementation,” the statement read.
The SAC accorded sanction to the creation of 33 posts ingovernment medical colleges in Jammu and Srinagar.
It also approved a proposal of inclusion of Jogi/Yogi/Nath/Bouria/Boria/Bowariacommunities in the categories of other social castes (OSCs).
The SAC accorded sanction to the temporary re-hiring ofwilling eligible lecturers who have already rendered their services during thelast academic year 2018-19, purely on academic arrangement basis, for theacademic session 2019 from 11.03.2019 to 30.06.2019, subject to the fulfillmentof the conditions attendant to such engagements as per relevant recruitmentrules.
The SAC also approved temporary re-hiring of eligiblesubject-specific teachers who have rendered their services during the lastacademic year 2018-19 to run classes in the 110 upgraded schools under RMSA.
The SAC accorded sanction to the extension of date ofdepositing of 2nd installment of arrears of old tax regime under amnesty schemefor streamlining the implementation of goods and services tax up to 31st March2019.
“The amnesty scheme announced by the government in February2018, in addition to various other provisions, provides for 100% remission ofpenalty and interest on arrears of tax for dealers under the provisions ofJ&K VAT Act, 2005 (now repealed) and J&K sales tax Act, 1962,” thestatement read.
“As per the provisions of the scheme, it is mandatory forthe dealers to pay the arrears, assessed/re-assessed /admitted upto theaccounting year 2016-17 in three equal installments. The due date fordepositing of 2nd installment expired on 31 January, 2019,” the statement read.
“On the request from various stakeholders, the governmenthas decided to extend the date of depositing of 2nd installment up to 31 March2019, so that the inconvenience faced by the dealers in depositing theirinstallment is addressed,” the statement read.
The SAC accorded sanction to the creation of 85 posts forsix auxiliary nurse midwifery (ANM) schools and five general nursing andmidwifery (GNM) schools in the state.
The SAC approved holding of elections for constitution ofblock development council in the state (second tier) after issuance ofnecessary notification in this behalf in consultation with chief electoralofficer, J&K, and as per dates to be announced by him.
“Section 27 of the J&K Panchayati Raj (amendment) Act,1989, provides for constitution of a BDC for every block. Every BDC shall be abody headed by a chairperson and other members. Chairperson of the BDC shall beelected by the electoral college comprising panchs and sarpanchs of halaqapanchat, falling within the block,” the statement read.
The SAC said the objective of constituting BDCs is toestablish second tier of PRI institutions for: “implementation/monitoring ofseveral centrally-sponsored schemes like RGSA, MGNREGA, 14th Finance Commissionand other schemes transferred to halqa panchayats; preparation andimplementation of schemes of inter-halqa panchayats; consolidation of actionplans of halqa panchayats and their submission to the district planning anddevelopment board; and, ensuring the inter-departmental coordination at theblock level for the implementation of various schemes.”