In Pictures: Here's How Work On India's Under-Construction AIIMS Projects Is Progressing

.The unprecedented second wave of the Covid-19 pandemic brought renewed focus on India's health care facilities, especially tertiary health care centres like speciality and super-speciality hospitals which are instrumental in treating serious patients.

One of initiatives aimed at enhancing the tertiary health care coverage in India is the formation of All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) across India.

Since 2006, 22 AIIMS have been approved by the central government in various phases under the Pradhan Mantri Swasthya Suraksha Yojana (PMSSY). This scheme was launched in 2003 to correct the regional imbalances in providing affordable and reliable tertiary and to provide quality medical education.

As of March 2020, AIIMS in Bhopal, Bhubaneswar, Jodhpur, Patna, Raipur and Rishikesh are fully functional. Additionally, OPD services have been started in AIIMS Raebareli, AIIMS Mangalagiri, AIIMS Gorakhpur, AIIMS Nagpur and AIIMS Bathinda. All 22 AIIMS are expected to be fully functional by February 2025.

Twitter users Gurkirat Mand and Chandrashekhar Daghe have pictorially collated the ongoing work on AIIMS Vijaypur in Jammu, AIIMS Kalyani in West Bengal, AIIMS Mangalagiri in Andhra Pradesh, AIIMS Bathinda in Punjab, AIIMS Changsari (Guwahati) in Assam, AIIMS Madurai in Tamil Nadu, AIIMS Bilaspur in Himachal Pradesh, AIIMS Deoghar in Jharkhand and AIIMS Rae Bareli, AIIMS Gorakhpur in Uttar Pradesh.

Here are some of the pictures from the under-construction and partially completed AIIMS projects.

AIIMS Nagpur: One of the AIIMS announced under the fourth phase in 2014, the hospital building has been designed by American architectural firm Perkins Eastman. It will be built at an approximate cost of Rs 1,577 crore.

AIIMS Vijaypur: The foundation stone of this institute was laid by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in February 2019. Its first batch of 50 MBBS students are studying at the campus of AIIMS Rishikesh, its mentor institute.

AIIMS Rae Bareli: Approved by cabinet back in 2009, the project was delayed over land acquisition which finally took place in 2013. The Yogi Adityanath led Uttar Pradesh government in 2018 expedited work on the project. The residential and OPD blocks have been completed and the medical college is on the verge of completion.

AIIMS Kalyani: Construction started in 2016 and full fledged OPD services are expected to begin in September. When completed it will be a 960 bed hospital out of which 300 are expected to be functional in September.

AIIMS Mangalagiri: Located in Andhra Pradesh between Guntur and Vijayawada, the Outpatient Department (OPD) of AIIMS Mangalagiri became functional from March 2019.

AIIMS Bathinda: Over 78 per cent of the work has been completed with the completion deadline being June 2021.

AIIMS Changsari (Guwahati): Assam Health Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma has said that it will begin operations from July. Its academic program has already begun.

AIIMS Madurai: The preliminary construction work has begun and a loan agreement has been signed with the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) for funding 85 per cent of the project.

AIIMS Bilaspur: The OPD was opened for patients in January 2021 and the remaining work is expected to be completed by December. Located along the Shimla-Bilaspur highway, the hospital is being built on a slope, thereby proving to be a construction challenge.

AIIMS Deoghar: The institute became operational at a temporary campus in 2019, with the under-construction building expected to be completed by February 2022.

AIIMS Gorakhpur: A strict completion deadline of July 2021 has been issued by Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath. The state government is spending Rs 738.6 crore over land acquisition, four-lane approach road construction and other essential services.