Odisha Floats Proposal For Second AIIMS In The State

Bhubaneswar: The Odisha government has requested the Centre for the establishment of second AIIMS in the State in Sundargarh district.

In a letter to the the Secretary of Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Rajesh Bhushan, Chief Secretary of Odisha, Asit Tripathy stated,"Odisha presently has a fully functional AIIMS in Bhubaneswar which has emerged as one of the leading AIIMS in the country in terms of medical education and quality health care."

Considering that a second AIIMS has been established in Bihar and similar proposal is under consideration in another state, the Odisha chief secretary said, "In view of the health care requirements of Odisha, it is proposed that a second AIIMS may he considered for Western Odisha in the district of Sundargarh."

The Sundargarh AIIMS will cater to a large tribal population in the area and help in providing quality tertiary care in the backward area of Western Odisha, emphasised the Chief Secretary.

Tripathy further wrote in the letter that there is a readily available infrastructure for college and hospital in Sundargarh. Recently, an MOU has been signed between the Government of Odisha and NTPC, as a CSR initiative, to establish a Medical College and Hospital.

The construction of the project has been completed and equipment procurement process is going on. The hospital is designed for 500 beds and the college will adequate enough to have 100 strength in MBBS. Therefore, this available infrastructure can be utilised for setting up of AIIMS within a short period of time, informed Tripathy in the letter.

The location is easily accessible through road, railway and air (Jharsuguda airport), he added.

(Edited By Rashmi Ranjan Mohanty)