Surat: Surat Lok Sabha MP Mukesh Dalal met Union Minister for Health, Chemicals and Fertilizers J. P. Nadda and raised several key issues concerning his constituency.

Dalal highlighted that in the rural areas of Olpad, farmers cultivate paddy, sugarcane, vegetables, and other crops in large quantities. However, during the ongoing sowing season, they are facing an acute shortage of urea fertilizer. He cautioned that if the supply is not ensured on time, crops may fail, leading to huge financial losses for poor farmers. Dalal urged the Union Minister to immediately allocate 7,000 bags of urea fertilizer for Olpad farmers.

Responding to his request, the Minister directed officials to take swift action and arrange for the supply.

The MP further pointed out that Surat has nearly 7,300 CGHS cardholders and around 28,000 beneficiaries, while another 10,000 cardholders and 40,000 beneficiaries live in areas stretching from Bharuch to Umargam. Despite such a large number of beneficiaries, Surat does not have a Central Government Health Scheme (CGHS) center. As a result, patients are forced to travel to Vadodara to access medical facilities—a costly and inconvenient journey, particularly for senior citizens.

Dalal also raised the issue of cancer surgeons with fellowships being excluded from registration under the Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (AB-PMJAY), despite possessing the required qualifications. He noted that this prevents them from serving cancer patients, while dental surgeons with MDS (Oral) qualifications have been permitted to treat cancer under the scheme.

He added that some of these surgical oncology fellowship doctors were previously registered under PMJAY but their registrations have since been cancelled without explanation. Stressing that the country already faces a shortage of cancer specialists, he urged the Minister to reinstate these doctors under AB-PMJAY so they can continue contributing to cancer treatment.

The Union Minister assured the MP of a positive response and the necessary action on the issues raised. DeshGujarat