Madurai AIIMS a non-starter even after 3 yrs
TIMES NEWS NETWORK
27.01.2022
Madurai: Thursday marks three years since Prime Minister Narendra Modi laid the foundation stone for the All Indian Institute of Medical Sciences in Madurai with much fanfare, but no construction has taken place at the site yet. Though it was stipulated to be completed in 45 months, work is expected to start only next year.
When the announcement for the premier medical institution was made about seven years ago, it was seen as a flagship scheme that would bring in votes for BJP and its allies in the Lok Sabha polls scheduled for 2019. It was the then finance minister Arun Jaitley who announced the project in February 2015 bringing much joy to the people of Tamil Nadu. However, delays had bogged down the project ever since.
It was announced in August 2020 that construction would start after the agreement was signed with Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) in December that year. But the agreement dragged on till March 2021. Then arose the controversy of the then AIADMK government not handing over the land required for the construction to the Union government.
A case in this regard was filed in the Madurai bench of Madras high court and the state government informed that it had handed over the land on November 3.
However, nine months after signing the agreement with JICA, the project continues to be on paper. The shocker came after the administrative meeting of Madurai AIIMS in June when it was announced that construction would begin only in 2023 and be completed in 2026, four years beyond its initially scheduled completion in September 2022.
No comments:
Post a Comment