Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the Advanced Mother and Child Centre and the Advanced Neurosciences Centre at the Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education & Research (PGIMER), Chandigarh, and laid the foundation stone for a 150-bed Critical Care Block under the Pradhan Mantri Ayushman Bharat Health Infrastructure Mission (PM-ABHIM). The development matters because it expands tertiary-care capacity in a major public medical institution and reflects the Union government’s continuing push to strengthen health infrastructure after the COVID-19 pandemic.

What happened

The Prime Minister said the new facilities would strengthen access to quality healthcare for lakhs of people. He also referred to his 2015 visit to PGIMER’s convocation and said the institute’s capacity had expanded significantly over the past decade.

Union Health Minister Jagat Prakash Nadda said the Advanced Neurosciences Centre is a 300-bed facility built at a cost of ₹440 crore. He said the centre will integrate neurology, neurosurgery, and neuro-critical care under one roof. He also said PGIMER had only 25 neurology/neurosurgery beds for nearly five decades since 1967.

The government described the Advanced Mother and Child Centre as a specialised tertiary-care facility for high-risk pregnancies, critically ill newborns, and children needing advanced treatment, with 300 beds and state-of-the-art facilities.

Background and earlier position

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