India and Asian Development Bank Sign $500 Million Loan for Maharashtra’s Health and Medical Education
New Delhi [India], August 21: India has signed a loan package of USD 500 million with the Asian Development Bank (ADB) to improve access to quality and affordable tertiary health care and medical education in Maharashtra.
Key Signatories
The agreement was signed by:
- Juhi Mukherjee, Joint Secretary, Department of Economic Affairs, Ministry of Finance, Government of India
- Mio Oka, Country Director of ADB’s India Resident Mission
- Dinesh Waghmare, Principal Secretary, Medical Education and Drugs Department, Government of Maharashtra
Program Goals
Juhi Mukherjee stated that the program will help strengthen Maharashtra’s tertiary health care and medical education, expanding facilities to provide modern medical services in under-served areas.
Mio Oka highlighted that ADB’s support will help Maharashtra achieve its vision of affordable and accessible tertiary health care by 2030 and strengthen the cadre of quality medical practitioners.
Loan Utilization
The loan will be used to:
- Establish four medical colleges with attached tertiary care teaching hospitals
- Increase bed capacity in government tertiary care hospitals
- Hire at least 500 new doctors for the new medical colleges
- Reduce out-of-pocket expenditure through better availability of quality drugs
- Support efficient management of assets with a focus on climate-resilient planning and sustainability
- Develop healthy competition among medical colleges through a performance management system
Doubts Revealed
Asian Development Bank -: The Asian Development Bank (ADB) is a bank that helps countries in Asia by giving them money to build things like schools, hospitals, and roads.
$500 Million Loan -: $500 million is a very large amount of money that India is borrowing from the ADB to improve health and medical education in Maharashtra.
Maharashtra -: Maharashtra is a big state in India, where cities like Mumbai and Pune are located.
Tertiary Health Care -: Tertiary health care means advanced medical care that you get in big hospitals, like surgeries and treatments for serious illnesses.
Medical Education -: Medical education is the training and teaching of people to become doctors and nurses.
Juhi Mukherjee -: Juhi Mukherjee is a person who works in the Ministry of Finance in India and helps manage the country’s money.
Mio Oka -: Mio Oka is a person from the Asian Development Bank who helps with projects in different countries.
Dinesh Waghmare -: Dinesh Waghmare is a person who works in Maharashtra’s Medical Education and Drugs Department, helping to improve health services in the state.
Hospital Bed Capacity -: Hospital bed capacity means the number of beds available in hospitals for patients to use when they are sick.
Under-served Areas -: Under-served areas are places that do not have enough doctors, hospitals, or medical services for the people living there.
