No Plans For 2nd AIIMS At Sundargarh, says Centre

Bhubaneswar, Aug 6

Odisha’s hope for the second AIIMS at Sundargarh has fizzled out with Union Minister of State (MoS) for Health Bharati Pravin Pawar clarifying that the Centre has no such plans at the present.

Pawar informed the Rajya Sabha, in reply to a question of BJD MP Dr Sasmit Patra recently that AIIMS are being set up in different parts of the country, keeping in view the gaps in the availability of tertiary health care facilities, in a phased manner.

She informed that 22 new AIIMS have been approved for establishment under Pradhan Mantri Swasthya Suraksha Yojana (PMSSY).  “As far as Odisha is concerned, it already has a fully functional AIIMS at Bhubaneswar and another satellite centre of the institute has been approved at Balasore in the state,” the Union Minister said.

Notably, the Odisha government has been demanding for second AIIMS in Odisha for the last two years since a second AIIMS has been established in Bihar and a similar proposal was under consideration for another state.

In October last year, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik reiterated the demand during a meeting with Union Minister of Parliamentary Affairs, Coal and Mines Pralhad Joshi at Naveen Niwas here.

Earlier in April that year, a nine-member team central team under the leadership of the then AIIMS-Bhubaneswar director Gitanjali Batmanabane visited Sundargarh, which had kindled hope in various quarters, particularly among people in western Odisha.