BHUBANESWAR: The State Government has decided to establish general nursing and midwifery (GNM) schools in Kalahandi, Kandhamal, Sundargarh and Dhenkanal districts. The Centre has approved the proposal of the Government for opening GNM schools in the peripheral districts to churn out more number of nurses to meet the acute shortage of trained manpower in the hospitals. The schools would be set up at a cost of ` 10 crore each with the Centre providing 85 per cent of the amount and the State Government bearing the rest 15 per cent. The State Budget for 2012-13 has earmarked ` 6.22 crore for the purpose and work on the institutes would start at the earliest, Health Minister Prasanna Acharya said.
�Odisha will also be home to one of the eight regional institutes of paramedic sciences announced by the Centre. The Government has allotted five acre of land on the outskirts of Bhubaneswar. The Institute would come up at a cost of ` 75 crore with the Centre providing 75 per cent and the State 25 per cent. The institute would augment availability of skilled paramedics for the health delivery system.
�Meanwhile, work on the earlier approved GNM school project along with two ANM schools has started. The GNM school is coming up at Nabarangpur, while the ANM schools are being set up in Sonepur and Boudh districts.
�The Government has already created posts of the principal, 14 tutors and other allied staff and personnel for the GNM institution. For the ANM Schools, posts of principal tutors, five tutors and other staff have been created for both the districts.
�The Centre has already sanctioned ` 17 crore for the three projects and released ` 4.75 crore till date. The State Government has also provided ` 1 crore of its share of ` 3.33 crore.
