Prime Minister Narendra Modi on April 14 inaugurated the first All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) in the Northeast at Changsari near Guwahati.
The AIIMS and a medical college each in Kokrajhar, Nagaon, and Nalbari were among various projects worth more than ₹3,400 crore he initiated and dedicated to the nation in Assam.
Mr. Modi had laid the foundation stone of the AIIMS, built at a cost of ₹1,120 crore, in May 2017. The super speciality hospital has a capacity of 750 beds including 30 AYUSH beds and will admit 100 MBBS students annually.
Among the projects the Prime Minister initiated on Friday is the Assam Advanced Healthcare Innovation Institute (AAHII) within the Indian Institute of Technology, Guwahati complex.
Officials said the AAHII will be a research and innovation centre in the area of medical sciences, which includes a 500-bed ‘connected’ multi-speciality hospital spread over 12 acres.
Addressing a gathering during the inauguration ceremony, Mr. Modi said efforts to enhance connectivity in the Northeast are reflected in the improvement in the road, rail, and airport infrastructure in the last nine years.
“Along with physical infrastructure, social infrastructure also received a massive boost in the region as education and health facilities have been expanded in an unprecedented manner,” he said, attributing the change to the government’s service-oriented approach.
“We are moving forward with the mantra of India’s development through the development of the Northeast… The government’s policy, intentions and commitment are not driven by self-interest but by the spirit of ‘nation first and people first’,” Mr. Modi said.
An aerial view of AIIMS Guwahati ahead of its inauguration by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 14th April, in Guwahati on Wednesday. | Photo Credit: ANI
Apparently taking a dig at Congress, which had once been invincible in the Northeast, he said development becomes impossible when the politics of dynasty, regionalism, corruption, and instability start to dominate.
He illustrated this by giving the example of the AIIMS which was established in the 1950s “without any effort” to open another one elsewhere in the country until Atal Bihari Vajpayee took the initiative as the Prime Minister.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Assam Governor Gulab Chand Kataria visiting the the AIIMS Guwahati after its inauguration on April 14, 2023. | Photo Credit: PTI
Mr. Modi said since 2014, the BJP-led government started work on 15 AIIMS with treatment and courses having begun in most of them. “The AIIMS Guwahati is an example of the fact that our government fulfils all the resolutions,” he added.
He said his government was modernising India’s health sector according to the needs of the 21st century, insisting that the ongoing schemes have greatly benefited the health of women.
Ayushman Bharat cards distributed
The Prime Minister also launched the Aapke Dwar Ayushman campaign by distributing Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana cards to 1.1 crore eligible beneficiaries.
The Prime Minister’s programme was in presence of Assam Governor Gulab Chand Kataria, Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, Health Minister Mansukh L. Mandaviya and his Assam counterpart Keshab Mahanta.
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