LUCKNOW, May 27 -- Chief minister Yogi Adityanath on Tuesday directed officials to ensure that medicines with less than three months of expiry are removed from government hospitals, stressing that the benefits of improvements in health services should directly reach the common people. He laid stress on better quality treatment, diagnostics, medicines and emergency services in government hospitals, while also calling for medical colleges, nursing institutions and super-speciality services to be strengthened through modern technology, better human resources and effective management. Chairing a review meeting of the health and medical education departments, the chief minister said, "Treatment through AYUSH systems will now also be included in the Deendayal Rajya Karmchari Cashless Yojana. Health workers who served during the Covid period under NHM should be appropriately adjusted on a priority basis." "The quality of treatment, diagnostics, medicines and emergency services in government hospitals should continue to improve. At the same time, medical colleges, nursing institutions and super-speciality services should be strengthened through modern technology, better human resources and effective management," Adityanath said. "The objective of medical education is not merely to increase the number of institutions, but to provide the state with trained doctors, specialists and quality healthcare workers," he added. Officials informed the chief minister that 108 district hospitals, 106 specialised hospitals, 976 community health centres, 3,757 primary health centres and 27,668 health sub-centres are operational in the state. In the year 2025-26, government hospitals provided 26.41 crore OPD services and 1.23 crore IPD services, while 24.33 crore pathology tests were conducted. Over the past 10 years, the number of PG seats increased from 1,344 to 5,067, while MBBS seats rose from 5,390 to 12,800. Super-speciality seats also recorded an increase of nearly 165%. The chief minister said that AYUSH systems should also be included in the Deendayal Upadhyay Rajya Karmchari Cashless Chikitsa Yojana, and IPD services under systems such as Ayurveda, Unani and Homeopathy should also be made part of the scheme. "Health workers who served during the Covid period under the National Health Mission should be appropriately adjusted on a priority basis. Payments to ASHA workers should not remain pending under any circumstances," he added. The chief minister emphasised strengthening institutional and safe delivery systems to further reduce the maternal mortality rate and infant mortality rate. "Every pregnant woman should receive timely and better medical facilities," he said. Adityanath said that work on under-construction medical colleges and health institutions should be expedited. "All projects should be completed within the stipulated timeframe so that the public can soon benefit from better healthcare facilities," he added. Proposed inaugurations and foundation-laying programmes scheduled in the coming months were also reviewed during the meeting, including the multi-storey girls' hostel at Gorakhpu Medical College, the 110-bed Trauma Centre at Ayodhya Medical College, the BSc Nursing College at Saharanpur Medical College, and the expansion of the psychiatry department and de-addiction ward block at Kanpur Medical College. Stressing that the TB eradication campaign should be turned into a mass movement, the chief minister said schools, colleges and voluntary organisations should be associated with it. The honorarium of contractual MBBS doctors should be increased so that better doctors are encouraged to join government services, he added....