Indian Institute of Public Health to come up in Orissa at investment of Rs 140 crore

Report by Dipti Ranjan Kanungo; Bhubaneswar: A  MOU has been signed on Wednesday between Government of Orissa in Health & Family Welfare Department and Public Health Foundation of India  ( P.H.F.I ) for establishment of a Public Health Institute at  Kumarbasta near Bhubaneswar in presence of the Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, Chief Secretary Tarunkanti Mishra . The MoU has been signed by the member Secretary of the Public Health Foundation of India (P.H.F.I ) Prof. K. Srinath Reddy and State Health Commissioner cum Secretary Smt. Anu Garg. The Institute will start Diploma course in six subjects.

Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik said that the state government has provided 40 Acres of land for the purpose. The construction of the Institute will be completed by 2012. The Institute will invest Rs 140 crore for the project. “The institute will deal in education, training and research on prioritized health problems of the state,” chief minister Naveen Patnaik said while attending a function on the occasion.

While the state government had agreed to give 40 acre of land free of cost at Kumarbasta village near here to establish the IIPH, the PHFI would invest the money for the purpose, Patnaik said.

The IIPH would conduct training programmes for enhancing the capacity of public health functionaries including doctors, nurses and other para-medical personnel, said K Srinath Reddy, president of PHFI.

The PHFI already have similar institutes at Gandhinagar, Delhi and Hyderabad, Reddy said adding that IIPH, Bhubaneswar would be operational in temporary campus from July, 2010.