PM lays AIIMS foundation stone in HP
MODI SAYS MEDICAL FACILITY WILL BENEFIT PEOPLE OF HIMACHAL PRADESH AND BOOST MEDICAL TOURISM IN THE STATE
BILASPUR:Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday laid the foundation stone of All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) at Kothipura in Bilaspur district.
The estimated cost of the project is ₹1,351 crore.
“AIIMS will benefit the people of Himachal Pradesh a lot. The people will not need to go out of the state for advanced medical check-ups or for getting themselves treated for serious ailments. It will also give impetus to medical tourism in the state,” Modi said.
The Prime Minister said projects worth ₹15,000 crore are also in the pipeline for the state. AIIMS is proposed to be constructed on 205-acre land provided by the state government to the Union health ministry.
Himachal Pradesh governor Acharya Devvrat, chief minister Virbhadra Singh and Union health minister Jagat Prakash Nadda were also present on the occasion. Chief minister Virbhadra Singh urged the Centre to get it completed at the earliest so that people get quality health services at their doorstep.
Initially, the AIIMS will have 20 super-specialty blocks with 750-bed capacity. It will have an intake of 100 MBBS seats and 60 nursing seats per batch.
All the departments will be interconnected with commercial and residential areas on the campus. Nadda said AIIMs will be North India’s state-of-the-art health institution. Hamirpur MP Anurag Thakur claimed to have struggled to get the institution at Bilaspur.
Modi also laid the foundation stone of Indian Institute of Information Technology (IIIT) to be set up at Saloh in Una district. Nearly 60-acre land has been earmarked for the purpose by the state technical education department for this.
The IIIT will be constructed at ₹128 crore. The Centre will bear 50% cost, while 35 % of the finances will be borne by state government and the remaining 15% by industry partners HP Power Corporation and HP Power Transmission Corporation.
The courses available are computer science engineering, electronics and communication engineering and information technology with an annual intake capacity of 160. This will be the 20th IIIT in the country.
The Prime Minister also inaugurated the steel processing plant at Kandrori in Kangra district. The ₹70 crore plant will have annual production capacity of 1 lakh tonne.
He also inaugurated Tata Digital Nerve Centre for Bilaspur and Kullu districts for quality primary health care. It will facilitate quality health care in rural areas of the state. An initiative of Tata Consultancy Services, the digital nerve centre has touched 15 million people throughout the country.
Union steel minister Birendra Singh, former chief ministers Shanta Kumar and Prem Kumar Dhumal, HP health minister Kaul Singh Thakur, technical education minister GS Bali, MP Anurag Thakur were among those present on the occasion.