AIIMS at Sengipatti in the Hindu Tiruchi 27.3.2018 18:44 IST

http://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/Tiruchirapalli/appeal-for-hospital/article23365125.ece

The Hindu Tiruchi 27.3.2018 18:44 IST

 

Expedite steps to set up AIIMS at Sengipatti’

MARCH 27, 2018 18:44 IST
UPDATED: MARCH 27, 2018 18:44 IST

Civic activists urge State government to exert pressure on Centre

TIRUCHI

Civic activists here have urged the State government to exert pressure on the Centre to establish the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) hospital at Sengipatti in Tamil Nadu at the earliest.

They also felt that people of the State should stand united on bringing the facility to Tamil Nadu instead of bickering over the location.

“The State government should not delay any further and mount pressure on the Centre to bring the hospital to Sengipatti,”said M.Sekaran, president, Federation of Consumer and Service Organisations, Tiruchi.

Tracing the developments since the genesis of the proposal, he pointed out that after the Centre announced the proposal on establishing an AIIMS hospital in Tamil Nadu, the State government had suggested five possible places, including Sengipatti. The Central team also decided to go by the merit of the location and go by the marks awarded for various parameters.

The State government too recommended that the hospital can be established at Sengipatti. As the Centre sought some clarifications, some persons started “exerting undue pressure” to establish the hospital at Madurai. The federation had represented the matter to the Prime Minister and the Union Health Ministry requesting them to go by the suitability of the location without bowing to pressure from any quarter. Subsequently, a demonstration was organised at New Delhi pressing that the AIIMS be established at the most suitable location in Tamil Nadu.

Subsequently, the government has given its clarifications suggesting that the hospital can be established at Sengipatti as the other locations. “The Chief Minister has now only reiterated in the Assembly what has been conveyed to the Centre. The people of the State should remain united on the issue so as to ensure that the AIIMS was set up in Tamil Nadu,” Mr. Sekaran.

“Though Tiruchi had been denied such major projects, especially in the health sector previously, we only wanted the hospital to be established in the best suitable and most easily accessible location to all. Sengipatti being centrally located, it will cater to people of all parts of the State” Mr.Sekaran said

Contending that Sengipatti is the most appropriate place for the hospital, N.Ramakrishnan, coordinator, Welfare Organisations of Tiruchi, observed that they were not seeking any favouritism. “Sengipatti is situated at the heart of the State. It has got all required infrastructure and land is readily available,” he pointed out and underlined the need for speeding up the process of setting up the hospital.

M.A.Aleem, former vice principal of the K.A.P.Viswanatham Government Medical College, expressed gratitude to the State government for recommending the establishment of the hospital at Sengipatti, which was located in the central part of the State.