Odisha urges Centre to set up AIIMS in Sudergarh district

Chief Secretary A K Tripathy in a recent letter to Rajesh Bhushan, the Secretary of the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW), submitted a proposal for the establishment of a second AIIMS in the state. Odisha presently has a fully functional AIIMS in Bhubaneswar which has emerged as one of the leading AIIMS in the country in terms of medical education and quality health care, Tripathy said, adding that a second such campus will help the state to ensure the requirement of the people.

The Odisha government has proposed to the Centre to set up an All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) in the tribal dominated and mineral rich Sundergarh district to provide better health care to the people in western parts of the state. Chief Secretary A K Tripathy in a recent letter to Rajesh Bhushan, the Secretary of the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW), submitted a proposal for the establishment of a second AIIMS in the state.

Odisha presently has a fully functional AIIMS in Bhubaneswar which has emerged as one of the leading AIIMS in the country in terms of medical education and quality health care, Tripathy said, adding that a second such campus will help the state to ensure the requirement of the people. He said a second branch of the premier hospital has been established in Bihar and a similar proposal is under consideration in another state. "Therefore, a second AIIMS may be considered for western Odisha in view of the healthcare requirements in the state," he said.

"There is readily available infrastructure for college and hospital in Sundargarh. As a CSR initiative, an MoU has been signed between the Odisha Government and NTPC to establish a medical college and hospital. Construction of the project has been completed and equipment procurement process is underway," Tripathy mentioned in the letter. The hospital in Sundergarh is designed for 500 beds and the college will be adequate enough to have 100 strength in MBBS, Tripathy said, adding that the available infrastructure can be utilized for setting up of AIIMS within a short period of time.

"It will cater to a large tribal population in the area and help provide quality tertiary care in the backward area of western Odisha. The location is easily accessible through road, railway and air (Jharsuguda airport)," the chief secretary said.