Amit Shah, Home Minster, inaugurated two new research centres one at the Amritapuri campus of Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham in Kollam and the other at the Amrita Hospital in Kochi. It was inaugurated during the silver jubilee celebrations of the hospital in Kochi on 4th June 2023. The goal of both these centres is to pay attention to some key areas: emerging technologies and intelligent systems, sustainability and environmental management, health care and medical innovation, education and accessibility, smart manufacturing and automation, and sustainable innovation. Moreover, they want to achieve the goal of integrating research domains which will help in curating affordable products.
Amit Shah said, “Starting with a mere 125 beds, Amrita Hospital in Kochi has transformed into a 1,350-bed facility. It is now counted among the world’s best. Apart from service to the poor, where it has treated lakhs of patients for free, the hospital also has an impressive record in medical excellence and research, with several firsts to its credit such as doing India’s first micro blood stem cell transplantation, being India’s first hospital to do the largest number of high-precision robotic liver transplants and setting up India’s first 3D printing lab.” The Vice chairman of Mata Amritanandamayi Math, Swami Amritaswarupananda Puri said, “Amrita Hospital has spent more than Rs 816 crore in providing free medical care to people. Of 1.96 crore patients treated at the hospital so far, 59 lakh patients were given either free or subsidised treatment.” The sources say the amount of Rs 25 crore is going to be offered by the institution for free treatment of needy patients.
Besides Amit Shah, many well-known faces were present at that event: Kerala Health Minister Veena George, Kerala Agriculture Minister P. Prasad, Lok Sabha MP Hibi Eden and Kochi Mayor T.J. Vinod. Amma was not present there but she sent a pre-recorded video message thanking the entire doctors and nurses for giving great support and dedication.
She said, “It is a blessing to be able to bring solace to someone in pain. This is why doctors who serve in the hospital, the nurses and others should smile with their heart. They have their own personal family responsibilities. Still, it would be good if we could forget that and have the attitude that we are consoling our own child when dealing with each patient. It will remain etched as an ineradicable pain in everyone’s heart. Doctors now have to move around in a state of fear pray for the parents of that daughter, that they find peace.” Both Amit Shah and Amma offered condolences to all those who died or lost their family members during the Odisha Train accident on 2nd June. She added, “The relatives and friends of the dead are in limbo, neither dead nor alive.”