Chennai: In a significant step to enhance healthcare monitoring and emergency response across Tamil Nadu, Chief Minister C Joseph Vijay flagged off 40 new vehicles for the Directorate of Medical and Rural Health Services at the Secretariat on Wednesday.
Vehicle Procurement and Deployment
The vehicles, procured at a cost of Rs 2.9 crore, will be deployed for inspection and enforcement activities in government and private hospitals across all districts. Officials stated that the vehicles would support the implementation and monitoring of various acts, including the Pre-Conception and Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques (PCPNDT) Act, 1994, the Tamil Nadu Clinical Establishments (Regulation) Act, 1997, the Surrogacy Act, the Assisted Reproductive Technology Act, and the Human Organ Transplantation Act.
Key Functions of the Vehicles
The vehicles will assist teams in inspecting scan centres, verifying registration and operational standards of medical institutions, monitoring treatment facilities provided to patients, and conducting swift investigations against fake doctors. Additionally, they will support field-level monitoring during disasters and epidemic outbreaks.
Dr S Uma, Additional Secretary of the Health Department, explained, "Since officials have to travel extensively across districts for inspections and enforcement activities, these vehicles will be utilized for that purpose. Of the 40 vehicles, three will be used in Chennai and the remaining will be distributed across the 37 districts. The older vehicles provided in 2012 have gone off-road, and as officials required new vehicles, these have now been flagged off."
Ceremony Details
The Chief Minister handed over the keys to drivers and formally inaugurated the vehicles at the event held at the Secretariat. Health Minister Dr K G Arunraj, Chief Secretary Dr M Sai Kumar, Health Secretary Dr Darez Ahmed, Additional Secretary S Uma, Director of Medical and Rural Health Services D K Chitra, and other senior officials participated in the event.
