Union Home Minister and Minister of Cooperation, Shri Amit Shah, inaugurated SGML Eye Hospital built by Shri Swaminarayan Sansthan Vadtal in Ujjain, Madhya Pradesh, through video conferencing today. Many dignitaries including the Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh Shri Shivraj Singh Chouhan were present on the occasion.

Shri Amit Shah began his address by paying tribute to Mahatma Gandhi on his 75th death anniversary. He said that Bapu not only propagated India's message of non-violence all over the world, but also established it.

The Union Home Minister said that Ujjain Dham of Madhya Pradesh has always been the centre of faith for crores of devotees of the country and the temple of Lord Mahakal has been very important in the history of our country since the time of the Vedas. He said that many temples in Ujjain have become the centre of attraction for the whole world and recently Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has inaugurated the grand corridor of ‘Mahakal Lok’ to restore the grandeur of Ujjain and its faith. With the construction of Mahakal Lok, the centre of devotion of crores of people across the country has been strengthened even more.

Shri Amit Shah said that an eye hospital is being inaugurated here today. He said that Bhagwan Swaminarayan came from Uttar Pradesh to Gujarat and resided there permanently and by roaming all over the country, he gained knowledge and propagated among people through ‘Vachanamrit’ and he did a lot of work for the welfare of the whole world, especially the people of Gujarat. Shri Shah said that 200 years ago, he established the Swaminarayan sect, which has grown immensely and shining in India like a pole star today.

The Union Home Minister and Minister of Cooperation said that the Swaminarayan sect has provided many types of services. He said that different institutions of the Swaminarayan sect in Gujarat have contributed a lot in the field of education. Shri Shah said that arrangements have been made in the Gurukuls of the Swaminarayan sect to not only provide religious ethos but also the education of highest standard to the poor students. He said that along with the field of education, Swaminarayan sect has done a great job by helping crores of youth of the country to overcome from drug addiction. He said that de-addiction was a matter of great importance for Swami Narayan Bhagwan and by combining it with religion he launched a huge campaign to make people free from drugs. Shri Shah said that this 50 bedded eye hospital will free people from various types of eye diseases. He said that this 50-bedded hospital built at a cost of Rs.15 crore, through state-of-the-art technology, the poorest of the poor eye patients will be able to get affordable treatment.

Shri Amit Shah said that Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has not only provided free health facilities up to Rs. 5 lakh to 80 crore poor people of the country through Ayushman Bharat Yojana, but the number of medical colleges, MBBS seats and PG seats have been increased too. He said that in the whole world this is the first and only example of providing complete health care coverage of up to Rs.5 lakh to 80 crore people. Shri Shah said that the number of medical colleges has been increased from 387 to 596, the number of MBBS seats has been increased from 51,000 to 89,000 and the number of PG seats has been increased from 31,000 to 60,000 by the Government led by Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi. He added that an increase of 55% in the number of colleges, one and a half times increase in the number of MBBS seats and doubling of MS and MD seats will immensely strengthen India's health infrastructure. Shri Shah said that the Government of India has established 22 new AIIMS, which will greatly benefit the poor. Shri Shah congratulated the Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh Shri Shivraj Singh Chouhan for starting medical education in Indian language for the first time in the whole of India and said that by completely translating all the MBBS course into Hindi, Shivraj Singh Chouhan has provided a new momentum to the Indian languages.

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