Health Minister Ma. Subramanian said on Saturday that it was shocking to learn from the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) that the construction of the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), Madurai, will begin by the end of 2024 and will be completed in 2028.
The Minister, who was on an official visit to Japan this week, said the delegation had asked officials of JICA, which is funding the project, to expedite the release of funds.
“They told us that a tender was floated to finalize an agency, which will arrive at a plan of the building on 222 acres at Thoppur, Madurai. If this agency, which will be finalized in April 2023, takes up the work on the preparation of a project estimate, a building plan, and then float tenders, we asked JICA officials when the work would begin. Their reply was shocking. They said the work can commence by the end of 2024 and get over in 2028,” he told reporters.
He recalled that the Prime Minister had laid the foundation for AIIMS, Madurai, on January 27, 2019. It was planned at a cost of ₹1,264 crore with 750 beds, with the project period being 45 months.
Mr. Subramanian, while reacting to Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya’s remarks on AIIMS, Madurai, in Parliament, said the excuse that there were delays on the part of the former AIADMK government in handing over the land was not acceptable.
“The then AIADMK government first gave 199.88 acres on ‘enter upon permission’ and later 22.49 acres based on further requirement. In total, nearly 222 acres was given…There are no issues due to land as being projected but there are only funding issues,” he said.
He said this is the real status of AIIMS, Madurai. The Minister’s statement comes shortly after a heated debate in Parliament between the Union Health Minister and DMK MPs.
Referring to the Union Health Minister’s statement that 50 students had already been admitted to AIIMS, Madurai, indicating that the institution had started functioning, he said that establishing a medical college hospital was more than medical education and was also about healthcare service. The students were studying on the campus of the government medical college in Ramanathapuram.
After Assam, Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, Rajasthan, Jaipur and Telangana, the Union government had said it was establishing AIIMS in Tamil Nadu. “But except Tamil Nadu, the institutes in all other States received Union government funding. The financial source was JICA only for Tamil Nadu,” he said. He added that the former AIADMK government had failed to demand funding for the project from the Centre.
The Minister said it was the Union government that should submit documents and put forward an official request for expediting the project. This was put forward to the official from JICA India office during the meeting, he added.
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