The committee formed to finalise the location of the All India Institute of Medical Sciences-like institution in Tamil Nadu has zeroed in on Thoppur in Madurai, choosing it over four other locations identified by the State government.
It is learnt from sources in Delhi that the location was decided upon at a meeting convened in the capital on Monday. A formal communication to the State government is on its way. The five locations proposed by Tamil Nadu are: Pudukottai town in Pudukottai district, Thoppur in Madurai, Perundurai in Erode, Sengipatti in Thanjavur and Chengalpattu in Kancheepuram. While the State puts forth the proposal, it is the Centre that takes the final decision on where to locate the institution.
The ₹1,100 crore AIIMS project envisages building an integrated state-of-the-art institution in the available 300 acres of land.
ADVERTISEMENT
The 750 bedded institution will have 100 medical seats and a nursing college. It will also focus on research education.
While the delay in finalising the location of the institution created some bad blood in Tamil Nadu, the row escalated after Chief Minister Edapadi K. Palaniswami, on more than one occasion, mentioned Sengipatti in Thanjavur as the Centre’s choice. He was accused of being partisan and pandering to a certain lobby though he sought to distance himself from the decision, claiming it had been communicated to him by the Centre.
The Madurai-based lobby, both political and trade-related, also campaigned vigorously for Thoppur, as it would serve as an integrated centre for all the southern districts. A series of demonstrations, protests and signature campaigns were conducted over the last two years by a coalition of trade bodies, with the participation of political parties, to urge the Centre to choose Thoppur.
ADVERTISEMENT