Hospitals In A Coma? Six AIIMS Not Yet Functional Even After Sixteen Years, Says Report 

According to the latest report of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Health, six institutes modelled on the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), Delhi, are yet to be fully functional after sixteen years of starting services, reports Mint.

“Although six new AIIMS have been made functional, but many facilities are yet to be made available for the patients. Even though the project was announced long ago in the year 2003, these AIIMS-like institutions in phase-I are yet to become fully functional as an institute of national importance as AIIMS, Delhi,” stated the report.

The parliamentary panel noted that these premier medical institutes established in six cities - Bhopal, Bhubaneswar, Jodhpur, Patna, Raipur and Rishikesh - suffer from shortage of teachers, infrastructure lapses and even defective operation theatres.

“This is a typical example of constructing buildings without foundation. With no staff, the infrastructure and resources are lying untapped and unutilized. There is a dire need to address this acute shortage as it has a direct impact on the quality of health service and medical education in the institutes,” added the report.

New AIIMS

PM Modi is expected to lay the foundation stone for the construction of a new AIIMS in Madurai (Tamilnadu) on 27 January (2019). The hospital, which will cost Rs 1,264 crore, will have 750-beds, 100 MBBS seats and 60 BSc nursing seats.

It was also reported on 3 January 2019 that Gujarat would get its first AIIIMS at Rajkot with an investment of Rs 1,200 crores.

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