Row in Lok Sabha over AIIMS Madurai construction

Chennai: Outraged over the alleged statement and allegations made by the Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya over the delay in the construction of All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), Madurai, DMK (Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam) and Congress Lok Sabha MPs staged a walkout from the parliament on Friday claiming the minister accused them of politicizing the medical institution.

As per PTI reports, Union Health Minister claimed that the opposition was giving "wrong information" about AIIMS Madurai because he took decisive action against medical colleges which don't have faculty, infrastructure and patients.

During a discussion on the setting up of medical colleges in India, the DMK members of Parliament (MP) Thalikkotai R. Baalu asked the union government regarding the percentage of colleges in India that have started without infrastructure, and the construction of the number of colleges which were inaugurated by the Prime Minister has not yet taken off.

Replying to the question on AIIMS Madurai, Mandavya said medical courses of the institute are going on while Rs 1,900 crore has been earmarked for constructing the infrastructure.

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When the DMK members said that AIIMS Madurai was not ready, Mandaviya accused them of giving wrong information to the House and misleading the people. "Some people want to do politics on everything. I know why they are doing this as I have taken strong action against those medical colleges which don't have faculty, infrastructure and patients. This is the reaction to that," he asserted.

"Such illegalities will not be allowed by the Modi government. We will continue to take such strong action against delinquent medical colleges," he said amidst solid protests by the DMK and Congress MPs. Some members of the ruling BJP also came out in support of Mandaviya and raised their voices while standing in their seats.

A visibly agitated Dayanidhi Maran of the DMK said, "Who is he to talk like this?" "He is blackmailing us, he is threatening us," he charged. As the pandemonium continued for some time, Speaker Om Birla tried to calm down the agitating opposition members and said he would examine the statement made by the minister and see whether it is proper or not.

Unhappy with this, the DMK and Congress members staged a walkout from the House. Earlier, the Health Minister said the Modi government has taken steps for expanding medical education in the country so that students don't have to go abroad for studies. He said in 2014, the total number of medical colleges in the country was 387 and now it has gone to 657.

The Union government has relaxed the rules for setting up medical colleges which can be opened by state governments or private entities. "In just one year in 2022, We have given approval for setting up 37 medical colleges while 89 applications are now being examined," he said.

TN Health Minister reply

The All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) project at Thoppur, Madurai, has not taken off yet and only a compound wall is all that remained, Tamil Nadu Health Minister Ma Subramanian said on Saturday. The Minister claimed that the delay was due to the non-allocation of funds by the Centre. The State government had provided 222.49 acres of land and granted "entry upon permission" and on various occasions Chief Minister M K Stalin even he took up the issue with the Centre pleading for expediting the project, he said.

"There's no infrastructure despite the classes for the second batch of 50 MBBS students commencing at the Government Medical College Hospital, Ramanathapuram, which is away from the project area," Subramanian told reporters here.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi laid the foundation stone for the project in 2019, and the then AIADMK government provided 199.88 acres of land for the project and another 22 acres additionally sought by the Centre.

"The Centre permitted the intake of the first batch of 50 students and said classes could be conducted at a private college, art college or JIPMER in Puducherry. But our Chief Minister accommodated them at the Government Medical College Hospital, Ramanathapuram, and now the second batch of 50 students have been admitted," Subramanian said when his attention was drawn to the Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya's claim in the Parliament that the DMK was providing wrong information about the project.

Subramanian maintained that the site for the project had never been a problem but financial allocation had been. "While all similar projects are being funded by the Centre, the latter had said the Madurai project would be funded by JICA (Japan International Cooperation Agency). Probably, this is the first such project to be funded by JICA in the world," he said.

"It is said that the work could commence by 2024-end and the project is expected to be completed by 2028," Subramanian said.

No permanent faculty at AIIMS Madurai

The most controversial issue that caused a major scene in parliament, AIIMS, Madurai is the only institute to function with contractual staff with 100 per cent vacant faculty posts lying idle. Similarly, no designated building has been constructed for the past two years.

Among 20 AIIMS institutions across the country, it is the only one without a website and publishes its orders or notification on another college's website i.e Jawaharlal Institute of Postgraduate Medical Education and Research, Puducherry.

As per a media report in TOI, Union minister of state for health and family welfare Dr Bharati Pravin Pawar, in a reply to questions on All India Institutes of Medical Services institutes raised by three members of Parliament, said all the 183 posts of faculty and 32 posts of non-faculty in AIIMS-Madurai are vacant. Eight contractual faculty have been appointed to teach the first and second-year medical students at the college.

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