Revenue Minister R. B. Udhayakumar on Thursday said none can stop the establishment of the All India Institute of Medical Sciences at Thoppur in Madurai.
After inaugurating the Amma mini clinic at Thirumangalam, he told journalists that some people under the guise of activists were misleading the public on the project. “It would be wrong to say that the AIIMS will not come near Madurai...or it would not be correct to state that the Tamil Nadu government had done nothing towards this project,” he said.
The Minister recalled that the foundation stone for the AIIMS was laid by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2019. The land parcel, which was earlier assigned to the Tuberculosis Hospital, had now been handed over to the Revenue Department as per the guidelines.
The team from Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) conducted an inspection and only after this, the preliminary works began.
Mr. Udhayakumar attributed the delay to the COVID-19 pandemic. “Only now the government has been relaxing certain norms. The works will pick up pace from here onwards,” he asserted.
He charged that with the Assembly election in mind, the DMK and other parties were attempting to defame the AIADMK and the government. “We have our progress card, which would be enough to show that the promises [we made] have been kept. Whether it was on development projects or welfare schemes or the recent cyclones/floods, the Edappadi Palaniswami-led government had stood with the people,” he said.
