Complete construction for AIIMS Madurai in 6 months: Madras HC tells Govt

The PIL states that the Union Government had announced the project to set up an AIIMS in Madurai on February 28, 2015. It was only on 20 June, 2018 that the location for the site—Thoppur—was even announced, the PIL further adds. Also that, construction work for AIIMS facilities has begun in other states despite being announced after the Tamil Nadu site. Given these details, KK Ramesh asked the court to pass an order instructing the Union Cabinet to get the building contract ready as soon as possible and allocate the necessary funds.

Earlier in 2018, the Union government had responded in a counter-affidavit to a PIL seeking to accelerate the construction of AIIMS, saying that the facility would be functional 45 months from when it receives cabinet approval. However, according to an RTI filed in the same year, funds had not even been allocated for the project. In 2019, PM Modi laid the foundation for the facility but no further work was done on the site.

According to another PIL filed by Pushpavam, permissions for 22 AIIMS facilities across the country had been given out of which only six are functional now. The PIL elaborated that in several states, construction work was going on simultaneously while an out patient department was operational and MBBS admissions had begun. None of this has happened in Madurai, the petitioner complained, while requesting for a temporary site for an outpatient department.

On Tuesday, in response to KK Ramesh's petition, the divisional bench comprising of N Kirubakaran and Justice B Pugalendh had said the court expects the AIIMS facility in Thoppur, Madurai to be completed in 36 months and for a project consultant to be appointed soon, reports TNM

A well-equipped medical institution is indeed the need of the hour, especially in the wake of the COVID pandemic, which has made apparent how the Indian medical fraternity is understaffed and overworked.