The Union Cabinet on Thursday approved two more AIIMS-like medical institutions, one in West Bengal and the other in Uttar Pradesh, at a cost of Rs. 823 crore each.
The Cabinet also decided to upgrade five government medical colleges in five States to the AIIMS level, Home Minister P. Chidambaram told reporters.
“The proposed institution in West Bengal will come up at Raiganj in North Dinajpur district. The site for the AIIMS-like college and hospital in Uttar Pradesh has not yet been identified,” he said.
Raiganj is represented in the Lok Sabha by ailing Union Minister Priyaranjan Dasmunsi.
960-bed hospital
Each institution, to be set up under the second phase of the Pradhan Mantri Swasthya Suraksha Yojna (PMSSY), will have a 960-bed hospital will provide healthcare facilities in 39 speciality or super-speciality disciplines.
There will be 500 beds for the medical college hospital; 300 for speciality or super-speciality, 100 for ICU or accident trauma, 30 for physical medicine and rehabilitation and 30 beds dedicated to Ayush (Ayrvedic, Unani, Siddha, Homeopathy). The medical college will have a 100 under-graduate intake, besides facilities for imparting post-graduate or doctoral courses and a nursing college.
The Cabinet also approved upgrading of the government medical colleges in Amritsar (Punjab), Tanda (Himachal Pradesh), Madurai (Tamil Nadu), Nagpur (Maharashtra) and the Jawaharlal Nehru Medical College of the Aligarh Muslim University.
Upgrading of each medical college will be done at an estimated cost of Rs. 150 crore. Of this, the Centre will contribute Rs. 125 crore and a minimum amount of Rs. 25 crore will be borne by the respective State governments.
In respect of the Aligarh Muslim University, Rs. 25 crore will be provided by the Ministry of Human Resource Development.