Title - Azad wants train from Jammu to Chandigarh Says direct train to bring relief to PGI-bound patients

Jammu : The Union Health Ministry has put forward a detailed proposal before the Railway Ministry about starting a train between Jammu and Chandigarh to provide relief to patients who prefer the PGI in Chandigarh to local hospitals. The proposal has been forwarded after the civil society pressed for enhanced connectivity between two cities.Yogesh Sawhney, officer on special duty (OSD) of Union Health and Family Welfare Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad, said Azad had been pursuing the cause as patients from the state were facing a lot of hardships due to the non-availability of a direct train to Chandigarh. “We are hopeful that in the forthcoming railway budget, an announcement in this regard will be made,” Sawhney said.For past few years, the authorities in the Jammu region have failed to streamline the functioning of hospitals here. Premier health institutions such as Government Medical College (GMC), Jammu, are witnessing a shortage of basic infrastructure, including ventilators, because of which people prefer Chandigarh as the nearest destination for advanced treatment.Due to the increasing pressure of patients from Jammu, Azad had appointed Yogesh Sawhney as his OSD at the PGI for providing assistance to patients from the entire northern region. The civil society of Jammu has been demanding a direct train to Chandigarh for more than a decade so as to provide relief to patients who travel in buses.

Sources said recently a delegation of Jammu residents had brought this matter to the notice of the Union Health Minister, who had promised to approach Railway Minister Pawan Kumar Bansal.

The Jammu civil society also took an initiative to construct a ‘sarai’ near the PGI to provide shelter to needy patients of the state.