Shimla, Sep 7 (IANS): Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh Saturday laid the foundation stone for a 100-bed hospital within the Kamla Nehru Hospital (KNH), a state hospital for mother and child care.

The new hospital will be constructed within a year at a cost of Rs.70 crore, a statement released by the state government said.

"Kamla Nehru Hospital is being upgraded to a full-fledged state-level mother and child hospital and it will remain attached with the Indira Gandhi Medical College and Hospital (IGMCH) for medical education," the official statement said, quoting the chief minister.

Singh said that during his previous tenure, a 174-bed hospital was constructed at the KNH, a British-era hospital earlier named after Lady Reading, wife of the man who served as viceroy of India 1921-25.

The chief minister said the new building would be constructed after pulling down the old building.

He said the government had accorded the topmost priority to the health sector, and efforts were being made to provide the best healthcare facilities to the people, not only in urban areas, but also in rural areas not easily accessible.

He said 100 posts of doctor were being filled during this fiscal, while 100 would be filled next year.

He asked doctors and other paramedical staff to serve in the rural areas at least for a specific period.

Singh said efforts were being made to develop the IGMCH in Shimla as the state's premier health institution. He said a new out-patient department and administrative block were being constructed in the IGMCH, at a cost of Rs.66 crore.

He said in order to decongest the IGMCH, its dental and nursing colleges would be shifted near Ghanahatti, on the outskirts of Shimla, where a new complex with a capacity of 100 beds would be constructed, at a cost of Rs.150 crore.

State Health Minister Kaul Singh said he had recently taken up the matter of increasing MBBS seats at the IGMCH from 100 to 150 with union Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad.