Here’s How Work On India’s Under-Construction AIIMS Projects Is Progressing

The unprecedented second wave of the Covid-19 pandemic has brought in renewed focus on India’s health care facilities, especially tertiary health care centres like speciality and super-speciality hospitals which are instrumental in treating serious patients.

One of initiatives aimed at enhancing the tertiary health care coverage in India is the formation of All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) across India.

Since 2006, 22 AIIMS have been approved by the central government in various phases under the Pradhan Mantri Swasthya Suraksha Yojana (PMSSY). This scheme was launched in 2003 to correct the regional imbalances in providing affordable and reliable tertiary and to provide quality medical education.

As of March 2020, AIIMS in Bhopal, Bhubaneswar, Jodhpur, Patna, Raipur and Rishikesh are fully functional. Additionally, OPD services have been started in AIIMS Raebareli, AIIMS Mangalagiri, AIIMS Gorakhpur, AIIMS Nagpur and AIIMS Bathinda. All 22 AIIMS are expected to be fully functional by February 2025.

Twitter user Gurkirat Mand has pictorially collated the ongoing work on AIIMS Vijaypur in Jammu, AIIMS Kalyani in West Bengal, AIIMS Mangalagiri in Andhra Pradesh, AIIMS Bathinda in Punjab, AIIMS Changsari (Guwahati) in Assam, AIIMS Madurai in Tamil Nadu, AIIMS Bilaspur in Himachal Pradesh, AIIMS Deoghar in Jharkhand and AIIMS Rae Bareli, AIIMS Gorakhpur in Uttar Pradesh.

Here are some of the pictures from the under-construction and partially completed AIIMS projects.

AIIMS Vijaypur: The foundation stone of this institute was laid by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in February 2019. Its first batch of 50 MBBS students are studying at the campus of AIIMS Rishikesh, its mentor institute.

AIIMS Rae Bareli: Approved by cabinet back in 2009, the project was delayed over land acquisition which finally took place in 2013. The Yogi Adityanath led Uttar Pradesh government in 2018 expedited work on the project. The residential and OPD blocks have been completed and the medical college is on the verge of completion.

AIIMS Kalyani: Construction started in 2016 and full fledged OPD services are expected to begin in September. When completed it will be a 960 bed hospital out of which 300 are expected to be functional in September.