India funds 200-bed hospital ward in Sri Lanka's North

COLOMBO: India has constructed a 200-bed hospital ward complex at a cost of $13 lakh in Sri Lanka's Tamil-dominated former war zone of North.

The project in the northern district of Vavuniya has been implemented under full grant assistance of the Government of India amounting to SLR 187 million (over $13 lakh), the Indian High Commission here said.

"This complex aims to improve the existing infrastructure of the hospital and fulfill the medical care needs of in-patients admitted to the hospital from Vavuniya and adjoining districts.

"Government of India is also undertaking a project to procure medical equipment and furniture for the ward complex, as a second phase, at a cost of SLR 100 million", it said.

As part of its development partnership with Sri Lanka in the field of higher education, the Government of India is undertaking projects to establish a Centre for Skill Development for the Faculty of Agriculture; and a Civil and Mechanical Engineering block of Faculty of Engineering at the Kilinochchi Campus of the University of Jaffna, at a total cost of SLR 600 million.

The projects include building construction as well as supply of equipment and furniture, in addition to training and curriculum development.

High Commissioner YK Sinha has also inaugurated an English Language Lab in Kopay, Jaffna and an "India Corner" at the Jaffna Public Library in the North, a Tamil-dominated former war zone.