Prime Minister Narendra Modi has laid the foundation stone for a new All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) in Gorakhpur to be built at an estimated cost of Rs 1,011 crore to provide super-specialty health care and create a large pool of doctors in Uttar Pradesh.
"It is a very important day for eastern Uttar Pradesh. We are thankful to the Prime Minister for giving an AIIMS. He had said we will change the face and destiny of this region. The Prime Minister took special interest in this project and it is a major step towards serving humanity," Union Health Minister J P Nadda said addressing a rally.
With next year's Uttar Pradesh Assembly polls on BJP's mind, Nadda stressed that the Prime Minister has given special focus to development of health facilities in the state.
The AIIMS will directly benefit the residents of 14 districts of eastern UP and neighbouring districts of Bihar, the minister said.
It is aimed at correcting the regional imbalances in availability of affordable and reliable tertiary level healthcare.
The AIIMS in Gorakhpur, which will be spread in a total area of 112 acres, will be completed in 45 months and there would be 750 beds besides 300 super-speciality-beds in the hospital.
Every medical batch will have 100 students while nursing batch will have 60 students.
The Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Modi had recently given its nod to the setting up of the AIIMS under the Pradhan Mantri Swasthya Suraksha Yojana (PMSSY).
The government had said that the establishment of new AIIMS will serve the dual purpose of providing super-specialty health care to the population while creating a large pool of doctors and health workers that can be available for primary and secondary level facilities being created under National Health Mission (NHM).
The new AIIMS, once established will also conduct research on prevalent regional diseases and other health issues and provide for better control and cure of such diseases.
Special Facilities
The hospital will also include emergency or trauma and AYUSH sections.
There will be an administration block, AYUSH block, auditorium, night shelter, hostels and residential facilities.
The cost estimate of Rs 1,011 crore does not include recurring costs -- wages and salaries and operation and maintenance expenses.
"This recurring expenditure will be met by the respective new AIIMS from their annual budgets through grant-in-aid to them from Plan Budget Head of PMSSY of the Health Ministry, the government had recently said.
"The setting up of AIIMS under PMSSY aims at correcting the regional imbalances in availability of affordable and reliable tertiary level healthcare in the country and to augment facilities for quality medical education in under-served or backward states," it had said in an official statement.
Under this scheme, similar health facilities have been established in Bhubaneshwar, Bhopal, Raipur, Jodhpur, Rishikesh and Patna while work on AIIMS, Rae Bareli is in progress.
Three new AIIMS at Nagpur (Maharashtra), Kalyani (West Bengal) and Mangalagiri (Andhra Pradesh) have been sanctioned last year.
Taking Political CreditGetting an AIIMS had been a political issue in the region where thousands of people, including children, died in the past decades due to the absence of a super-speciality hospital.
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav took to Twitter to remind the people that it was the Samajwadi Party (SP) that provided the land for the project for free.
Several hoardings were seen in Gorakhpur city "thanking" Akhilesh for providing the "free land" for AIIMS.
Earlier in the day, Modi gave credit for AIIMS and revival of fertiliser plants to the people of Uttar Pradesh.
"You have elected a government at the Centre which believes in working. The credit goes to you all. If you elect a government keeping in mind your interests, the government also keeps that in mind and works on them," he said, adding, "We will not let your children die."
