Cabinet gives nod to set up six AIIMS-like institutions

New Delhi, Mar 19 : The Union Cabinet on Friday approved the revised cost estimates (RCE) for setting up of six new All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) like institutions in different parts of the country.

The cabinet approved cost estimates also includes upgradation of 13 existing Government Medical Colleges under The Pradhan Mantri Swasthya Suraksha Yojana (PMSSY) -Phase I for an outlay of Rs.9307.62 crore.

The allocation made for the PMSSY-Phase I projects for the XI Plan was Rs.3955 crore, additional expenditure involved would be Rs.5535.62 crore.

The PMSSY was initially started in March, 2006 with the object of correcting regional imbalances in the availability of affordable and reliable tertiary healthcare services and also to augment facilities for quality medical education in the country.

The PMSSY has two components in its first phase --setting up of six AIIMS-like institutions and upgradation of thirteen existing Government medical college institutions.

The Cabinet Committee of Economic affairs (CCE) approved the proposal for setting up AIIMS-like institutions in March 2006 and upgrdation proposal in June 2006.

However, the allocation of XI Plan is sufficient to meet the expenditure in the remaining two years of the plan period.

The new institutions and upgraded facilities in the existing medical colleges would provide tertiary health care facilities in and around the location and adjoining districts and States in the country.

The projects under Phase-I of PMSSY are spread over 19 locations in the 16 States of the country.

The new AIIMS-like institutions are located at Bhopal, Bhubaneswar, Jodhpur, Patna, Raipur and Rishikesh.

The AIIMS-like institutions will be completed by the end of 2012.

The upgradation components in Phase-I involves upgradation of Government Medical Colleges at Trivandrum, Salem, Bangalore, Kolkata, Jammu and Srinagar; NIMS, Hyderabad; SGPGIMS, Lucknow; B.J. Medical College, Ahmedabad; RIMS, Ranchi; IMS, BHU, Varanasi; SVIMS, Tirupati; and Grants Medical College, Mumbai.