Prime Minister Narendra Modi on February 25 inaugurated the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) at Rajkot, Gujarat. This is the first AIIMS in Gujarat state.
Prime Minister Modi along with the AIIMS Rajkot, virtually inaugurated four other AIIMS facilities, which are located in Rae Bareli (Uttar Pradesh), Kalyani (West Bengal), Bathinda (Punjab), and Mangalagiri ( Andhra Pradesh). The Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya attended the inauguration ceremony.
An official said that the inauguration in Rajkot is set to play a crucial role in democratizing high-quality healthcare and medical education.
PM Modi laid the foundation stone for the institution in December 2020 via video conference and the outpatient department of the super specialty hospital near Pipaliya village, is already functional. The hospital was constructed at an outlay of Rs. 1,195 crore.
On this occasion, PM Modi said “For 50 years after independence, there was only one AIIMS in the country, and that too in Delhi. In the seven decades since independence, only seven AIIMS were approved but even these were never completed. But now, in just 10 days, seven new AIIMS were inaugurated, or its foundation stones laid. That is why I am saying we are developing the country at a pace much faster than what happened in the last six to seven decades”. At the ceremony, he also inaugurated and laid the foundation stone for various development projects worth Rs. 48,000. The projects include 200 healthcare infrastructure projects worth Rs. 11,500 store across 23 states and 21 projects of ESIC (Employees State Insurance Corporation) costs around Rs. 2,280 crore.
Gujarat State Health Minister Rushikesh Patel said that Rajkot AIIMS spread across 201 acres, is a world-class hospital with 720 beds, including ICU and super specialty beds.
The Prime minister inaugurated India's longest cable-stayed bridge “Sudarshan Setu” in Gujarat Devbhumi Dwarka district. The bridge is around 2.3 km, connecting Okha mainland to Beyt Dwarka, which was constructed with an outlay of around Rs. 980 crore.
(Input from various sources)
(Rehash/Lavanya Beeraboina/MSM)