Assuring that an All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) will come up in Madurai as per schedule, Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan on Sunday said the Centre would extend all necessary support to the health sector.
Laying the foundation stone for a new government medical college which will come up on a sprawling 22-acre area at an estimated cost of ₹325 crore in Ramanathapuram, he said the proposed AIIMS would have state-of-the-art infrastructure and research facilities on a par with international standards. The funds had been earmarked and the project work would be expedited by the agencies concerned, he said.
Lauding the State government for the proactive measures being taken in the health sector, Dr. Vardhan said the parameters achieved by the State in MMR/IMR were impressive. He appealed to the Health Ministry officials to ensure that there were no maternal deaths.
“Take it as a challenge,” he said, adding that unless the cause of death was unavoidable, there should not be any casualties.
Quoting Prime Minister Narendra Modi, he highlighted the plan to have 75 new medical colleges built in as many districts by the time the country celebrates its 75th Independence Day in 2022. The idea was that the government should reach out to the districts that had never received adequate attention since Independence and bring them into the mainstream. Tamil Nadu had benefitted from the initiative as it had received approval to start medical colleges in 11 districts, including Ramanathapuram and Virudhunagar, within six months, he added.
He lauded Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami, State Health Minister C. Vijayabaskar, Health Secretary Beela Rajesh and Ramanathapuram Collector K. Veera Raghava Rao for preparing the Detailed Project Report, which facilitated the speedy sanctioning of funds by the Centre.
Paying rich tributes to late President APJ Abdul Kalam, he said Kalam’s dream of thinking big had become a reality in his home town.
