Indian HC on inspection tour of Northern projects

Indian High Commissioner Ashok K. Kantha visited Vavuniya on February 23 to inspect progress in the construction of the 200-bed Ward Complex at District Hospital, Vavuniya.

He was accompanied by the Consul General of India in Jaffna V.Mahalingam. Provincial Secretary of Health and Indigenous Medicine Mr. Raveendran, Dr. T. Sathaymoorthy, Incharge, Vavuniya District Hospital and other officials were present at the hospital site.

As part of India´s development partnership with Sri Lanka and in response to requirements projected by the Government of Sri Lanka, the Indian Government has undertaken this project which envisages construction of a four - storey 200-bed Ward Complex at the District Hospital, Vavuniya.

As a part of India´s assistance to the health sector in Sri Lanka, the Government of India had also supplied high-value critical medical equipment for the Jaffna Teaching Hospital in January 2011 and the Killinochchi and Mullaitivu District Hospitals in January 2012 at a cost SLR 230 million. India is constructing a 150-bed base hospital at Dickoya at a cost of SLR 1.2 billion which will be fully functional by July 2013.

The Government of India has also announced a gift of a ´Bhabatron´ Telecobalt Radiotherapy Machine to the Government of Sri Lanka, which is to be installed at the Hambantota General Hospital.

The second phase has made rapid progress since its launch because of the support received by our Implementing Agencies on the ground from officials of the Government of Sri Lanka and the local community. Over 8,000 beneficiaries have already been selected in all five districts of the Northern Province.

The High Commission of India has already released the first installment payments to 8,039 beneficiaries.

“We are confident of achieving our target of constructing 10,000 houses in the first year of the Project,” he said.

High Commissioner en-route to Vavuniya visited the Indian Housing Project, Phase-II at the Malayalapuram village at Killinochchi. He met with with about 50 people from the Malayalapuram Association Village people and Grama Sevakas.

The High Commissioner and Consul General of India in Jaffna inaugurated two houses of beneficiaries, namely,Elumalai Pillai and Mrs. Vimala Devi.

India has been supporting projects for rehabilitation, resettlement and well-being of displaced persons in the Northern Province in the areas of shelter (through donation of roofing sheets and cement bags and construction and repair of houses under the Indian Housing Project for 50,000 houses), health-care (providing emergency medical relief, organizing artificial limbs refitment camps and equipping hospitals), livelihood generation (provision of fishing equipment, tractors, bicycles, trishaws, agricultural equipment and seeds), education (repairs of 79 schools, distribution of computers and printers to schools, establishing nena shalas, supply of buses to educational institutions and setting up of vocational training centres) and infrastructure development (restoration of Northern Railway lines, rehabilitation of Palaly Airport and KKS Harbour).