TN CM launches 500 Urban Health Centres takes veiled swipe at Guv Ravi

    Chennai, Jun 6 (PTI) As many as 500 Urban Health and Wellness Centres (UHWCs), spread across the State were virtually inaugurated by Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin here on Tuesday.

In his launch address, Stalin said the Dravidian model of governance regarded education and healthcare as its 'two eyes,' and the government accordingly implemented schemes.

Tamil Nadu excelled in sectors such as education, in development of the state and in fulfilling the aspirations of the people. However, this could not be seen or understood by a person who held the top position in the State, Stalin said in an implicit reference to Governor RN Ravi.

Without naming Ravi again, Stalin said 'he' (Governor) did not accept the Dravidian model of governance and hence made criticisms against the government to confuse people.

"People will not bother about it at all. People have understood everything clearly. Let him make such criticism continuously," the Chief Minister said, adding such remarks would only further invigorate them.

The CM listed healthcare schemes initiated during the previous DMK regimes, when late M Karunanidhi (1924-2018) was the Chief Minister. Also, Stalin listed a slew of healthcare schemes launched under his leadership since 2021.

On June 5, Governor had reportedly remarked that investors would 'not come' merely because they were asked to do so. It was seen as a veiled attack on Stalin who recently undertook a trip to Singapore and Japan to woo investors.

Finance Minister Thangam Thennarasu earlier in the day said Ravi belittled the foreign visit of Stalin who was striving to improve the economy of the state by attracting foreign investments.

As regards the UHWCs, these are intended to function as ancillary units of Urban Primary Health Centres. The UHWCs are located in areas under civic bodies such as corporations including the Greater Chennai Corporation and municipalities.

Madurai, Coimbatore, Tirunelveli, Thoothukudi, and Vellore were among the reigons where the services could be availed, an official release here said.

Each UHWC was set up at a cost of Rs 25 lakh and in total, Rs 125 Crore is the cost of the initiative to set up the 500 new facilities.

A doctor, nurse, health inspector and a sanitary worker would be on duty in every UHWC, which would work between 8 AM to noon and from 4 PM to 8 PM to cater to about 25,000 people in a given area.

Totally, 500 doctors, as many nurses, health inspectors and sanitary workers have been appointed. The UHWCs would offer a wide range of healthcare services including maternity care and yoga.

Health Minister Ma Subramanian, Youth Welfare Minister Udhayanidhi Stalin and top officials participated.

(This story has not been edited by THE WEEK and is auto-generated from PTI)