Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and the UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi are paying special attention to the north-eastern States and all developmental projects will be taken up expeditiously, said Union Health Minister Anbumani Ramadoss. He was addressing the staff of the Regional Institute of Medical Sciences (RIMS) which had been taken over by the Central government. Mr. Ramadoss was accompanied by Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare Panabaka Lakshmi on his two-day visit to Manipur that ended on Wednesday. Mr. Ramadoss laid the foundation for the first dental and nursing colleges in Manipur within the RIMS complex. A paying was also inaugurated. A sum of Rs.129 crore was sanctioned for the construction of the dental and nursing colleges and water supply facilities in the RIMS complex. For academic matters and the construction of hostels, a sum of Rs.120 crore would be sanctioned. For decades, patients from the NE region had been going to other cities for better medical treatment. The Minister said henceforth no patient from the region would have to go outside for treatment. Cancer treatment centres would be set up in all north-eastern States. Hospitals in the region would be modernised, said Mr. Ramadoss. In the last four years, there had been an increase of 250 per cent in the investment in the health sector in this region. The Centre had invested Rs.12,000 crore for the region this year. Patients who come to the RIMS hospital have to pay nominal fees for investigation and treatment. Henceforth, patients below the poverty line and those who plead financial constraints would be given free treatment and no fee would be charged for investigations. The student intake for the MBBS course in RIMS will be increased from 100 to 150 from the current year. Since modern medical facilities are not available in remote places of the region, the Centre is encouraging traditional means of treatment.