Coming out strongly against the failure of the government to consider Tiruchi for setting up the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), a section of civic activists have decided to take to the agitation path again to press for the establishment of the institution in the city.
Taking cognisance of “unconfirmed reports” that the AIIMS could be located in Madurai, the Federation of Consumer and Service Organisations held a meeting of its core committee in the city on Saturday and threatened to boycott the Assembly election.
The federation members planned to return their Electors Photo Identity Cards (EPIC) to the President in a gesture of protest over the continued apathy of successive governments to their demand.
The move comes in the wake of the recent inspection of the five sites by a Central team for setting up the AIIMS. Expressing disappointment that Tiruchi was not among the short-listed sites, the federation said that the civil society in the city had been conducting agitations since 2005 for the c0ause.
A Joint Action Committee, comprising representatives of political parties, service, consumer, and traders organisations, was formed then to fight for the cause.
Civic activists point out that an announcement on upgrading the Government Headquarters Hospital in the city on a par with AIIMS was made by the Union government as early as 2002. But the project was later shifted to Salem.
“Tiruchi is centrally located and easily accessible for people of various central and southern districts. It has all necessary infrastructure. Locating the hospital here would benefit lakhs of people. It is shocking that Tiruchi was not included in the list of prospective sites on merit,” said M. Sekaran, president, Federation of Consumer and Service Organisations, who chaired the meeting.
Tiruchi has always received a raw deal, say activists
City qualifies for AIIMS in terms of location as well as connectivity
Consumer forum plans to return voter ID card, boycott poll
