Amarinder Singh proposes to PM setting up of virology research centre in Punjab

Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh on Friday proposed to the Centre setting up of a Rs 550-crore Advanced Centre for Virology in the state, with land to be offered by his government free of cost.

Singh wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi requesting him to direct the Union Health Ministry to set up the centre, which would focus on addressing regional, national and global needs in virology, diagnostic, research and therapeutic evaluations to cope with COVID-19, according to an official statement.

Pointing at the "unprecedented crisis" faced by the country in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak, the chief minister noted the sudden onset of this contagion and it "acquiring pandemic proportions within only two months" have highlighted the need to devote greater government resources on cutting-edge research in virology.

At present, the National Institute of Virology (NIV) in Pune is the only institution in the country capable of providing a well-coordinated medical and public health response to such an emergency, Singh said.

In the present scenario, wherein the world is in the grip of the highly infectious SARS-CoV-2 pandemic, an 'Advanced Centre for Diagnostic Virology and Research' as a regional reference laboratory for virus diagnosis and research is much required, he stressed.

"Frequent epidemics caused by viruses pose a constant threat and it is imperative for us to be future ready to predict and detect these at the earliest so that necessary preventive steps could be taken," the chief minister said, adding the proposal to establish the centre in Punjab will be a step in this direction.

The state government thus a specialised centre in Medicity in New Chandigarh, which, he said, would be well-placed to serve the interests of the northwestern region given Chandigarh's international air connectivity.

Singh also pointed out that the Centre could easily be incubated in PGIMER, which is located at only 7-8 kilometers from the proposed Medicity.