The Hindu : National : Panel criticises delay in scheme for AIIMS-like institutions

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Monday, Mar 28, 2005

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Panel criticises delay in scheme for AIIMS-like institutions

By Our Staff Correspondent

NEW DELHI, MARCH 27 . The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Health and Family Welfare has expressed extreme dissatisfaction with the progress made by the Government on the proposal to set up six All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS)-like institutions and seven medical colleges under the Pradhan Mantri Swasthya Suraksha Yojana.

In its report tabled in the Rajya Sabha, the Committee said the progress had been slow. The scheme was granted in-principle approval by the Planning Commission and the Ministry of Finance and cleared by the Expenditure Finance Committee. It would now be placed before the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA), the report said, while suggesting that all the procedural formalities should be completed at the earliest.

The Committee said the project should be completed within three years and provided funds under the Revised Estimates during the current year.

Budgetary allocation

The tentative cost of setting up each institute comes to around Rs. 284.50 crores and the annual recurring cost on salaries and maintenance about Rs. 60 crores. A sum of Rs. 60 crores was earmarked under the budgetary allocation in 2004-05 for the scheme and Rs. 6 crores for the construction of boundary wall. However, it reduced to Rs.10 crores in the Revised Estimates due to the delay in project clearance, the report said.

The six AIIMS-like institutes at Patna, Raipur, Bhopal, Bhubaneshwar, Jodhpur and Rishikesh and upgradation of one medical college in Andhra Pradesh, Jharkhand, Jammu and Kashmir, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal were announced by the National Democratic Alliance Government.

Whilethe NDA had said that these States were chosen as they were underserved in terms of medical infrastructures with high incidence of mortality and morbidity, there was criticism from various quarters as it was alleged that the States chosen were ruled by the NDA allies.

The project covered primarily the Hindi belt barring Andhra Pradesh, which was then ruled by the Telugu Desam Party (TDP), an ally of the NDA.

Pending clearance from the CCEA, start-up activities such as the construction of boundary wall, the process of selection of project consultant and selection of architectural designs has been taken up.

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