The All India Institute of Medical Sciences at Thoppur in Madurai would be ready in about two years from now, said chief executive officer and executive director M. Hanumantha Rao on Monday.
The top official, who arrived here, to be part of the inaugural session of the first batch of 50 MBBS students admitted in AIIMS Madurai, said that until the permanent building was constructed at Thoppur, the classes would function temporarily on the fifth floor of the Ramanathapuram Government Medical College and Hospital.
Thanking the Tamil Nadu government for readily providing space for the classrooms, laboratories, dining hall and hostel for boys and girls on its premises, Dr. Hanumantha Rao said that instead of waiting for the permanent buildings to be ready at Thoppur for two years, the AIIMS management had decided to commence classes from this year.
When asked about the delay in commencement of the academic programme for the first year students, he said that it would be compensated by conducting additional classes during weekends. “We have eight faculties for AIIMS Madurai immediately. They will handle Anatomy, Physiology, Bio-Chemistry and Community Medicine respectively. Apart from this, six faculty members from Mangalagiri in Andhra Pradesh would also be roped in. Online classes would also be made available for the students,” he clarified.
AIIMS Madurai
The CEO said that the AIIMS at Thoppur near Madurai would come up on 200 plus acres. It would have 750 beds. The construction would begin in about six months from now. The first and second batch of MBBS students would be here on a temporary basis. After that, they would be shifted to the Thoppur campus, he added.
Very soon, the AIIMS Madurai would call for candidates to be appointed to various posts as the institute has a sanctioned strength of 183 faculty members. In about two to three months, the process would be completed, Dr. Hanumantha Rao said and added that apart from the 750 beds, the AIIMS at Madurai would also have an exclusive block with 150 beds for treating infectious diseases and another block for handling cancer patients - tertiary care.
