Chandigarh, Sep 3 (IANS): In order to provide the best possible healthcare facilities, Punjab Chief Secretary Vini Mahajan on Friday asked authorities to open the IPD (in-patient department) services at the upcoming All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) in Bathinda by end of this month, besides making functional the PGI satellite centre in Sangrur by October.

Chairing a high-level meeting here, she was apprised that the construction work of PGI satellite centre in Ferozepur has been awarded last month and it will be completed within 39 months.

Expressing satisfaction that the Covid positivity rate remained static at 0.1 per cent in the state last week, the Chief Secretary instructed the officials to continue with testing and contact tracing ahead of the festival season.

Mahajan also reviewed the current status of the ongoing 31 major infrastructure development projects, including railway lines and road projects being carried out by the Indian Railways and the National Highways Authority of India, besides the Indian Institute of Technology in Ropar, the Indian Institute of Management in Amritsar and ethanol bio-refinery project in Bathinda.

She said 19 major infra projects worth Rs 13,315 crore have been completed in the state.

To further boost the inter-state road connectivity and spur economic activities in the state, the Chief Secretary was apprised that the work to four-lane of the Phagwara-Rupnagar section (Rs 2,574 crore), the Lambra-Shahkot section (Rs 847 crore), the Moga-Tallewal section (Rs 905 crore), the Kharar-Ludhiana section (Rs 2,593 crore), the Chandigarh-Kharar section (Rs 800 crore), and the Ludhiana-Talwandi section (Rs 479 crore).