RAJKOT (GUJARAT): The work on the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) project in Rajkot is going on at full pace and a full-fledged hospital operation is likely to start by October next year, said its Executive Director CDS Katoch.
Speaking to The New Indian here, Katoch said, “We started the OPD (outdoor patient department) on December 31 last year, which is currently operating from the night shelter building here as most of the other parts are under construction.”
He said that construction of the AIIMS Rajkot has been divided into two phases for smooth functioning of the hospital “Altogether, 25 buildings including the main building of the hospital are coming up on 201 acres of land in the revenue areas of Khanderi and Para Pipaliya villages on Jamnagar road of Rajkot at an estimated cost of Rs 1,195 crore,” the senior official said.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi had laid the foundation stone for the facility, located in Khandheri village near Rajkot city through video conferencing on December 31, 2020.
“In accordance with the concept of early operationalisation, AIIMS Rajkot commenced OPD operations in 12 departments in October last year. The OPD has begun from the permanent campus of AIIMS near Khandheri,” Katoch said, adding that 14 specialist doctors are running the OPD operations.
Katoch also said that the AIIMS Rajkot is also running a wellness clinic for Rajkot district and not for entire Saurashtra as of now. He said the municipal corporation had provided a bus for transporting patients from Rajkot city. “The OPD receives only 100 patients per day as of now but in next few months it is going to increase,” he said.
Katoch further said that the hostels of the hospital are scheduled to be completed by July-August next year and “we are expecting two batches of the MBBS graduates in September next year”. He said that currently the hostel for the MBBS students has been arranged by HSCC.
Rajkot DM Arun Mahesh Babu said that the AIIMS Rajkot will be a special centre for cardiology with treatment for other diseases as well.
Virendra Sachdeva, a member of the good governance cell of the BJP, said, “Under Prime Minister Modi’s vision, providing advance treatment to everyone has been made a priority that is the reason the government has focused on building more AIIMS facilities in different states.”
“This shows the government is focusing on developing health infrastructure across the country,” Sachdeva added.
Saurashtra is considered important for the ruling BJP which won 31 out of the 54 seats in 12 districts of the region. The Congress bagged 21 constituencies in this belt. Rajkot gave seven out of eight seats to the BJP.
The crucial assembly election in the home state of PM Modi is scheduled in November-December this year.