Uttar Pradesh CM Adityanath Yogi presents Lord Buddha's idol to PM Modi

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Monday presented Lord Buddha's idol to Prime Minister Narendra Modi at an event in Siddharthnagar district of Uttar Pradesh where he inaugurated nine medical colleges in the state.

Ahead of the inauguration the Prime Minister viewed an exhibition at the venue. He was escorted by Chief Minister and Governor Anandiben Patel.

Nine medical colleges inaugurated are situated in the districts of Siddharthnagar, Etah, Hardoi, Pratapgarh, Fatehpur, Deoria, Ghazipur, Mirzapur and Jaunpur.

Eight Medical Colleges have been sanctioned under the Centrally Sponsored Scheme for "Establishment of new medical colleges attached with district/ referral hospitals" and one Medical College at Jaunpur has been made functional by the State Government through its own resources.

Under the Centrally Sponsored Scheme, preference is given to underserved, backward and aspirational districts. The Scheme aims to increase the availability of health professionals, correct the existing geographical imbalance in the distribution of medical colleges and effectively utilize the existing infrastructure of district hospitals.

Under three phases of the Scheme, 157 new medical colleges have been approved across the nation, out of which 63 medical colleges are already functional.

( With inputs from ANI )