As six AIIMS struggle, PM Modi inaugurates new one in Himachal Pradesh

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday inaugurated a new AIIMS in Himachal Pradesh ahead of the assembly polls in the hill state, even as six other AIIMS that have been made operational a decade ago are yet to function full to their capacity due to paucity of experienced doctors and support staff.

"Many departments in various AIIMS remain inoperational due to vacant faculty and non-faculty staff,” a panel of Parliamentarians noted in a new report, while reviewing the performance of the six AIIMS at Patna, Bhubaneswar, Risikesh, Bhopal, Jodhpur and Raipur.

The faculty shortfall ranges from more than 50 per cent at AIIMS Patna and Raipur to around 30 per cent in the other four. In addition, there are hundreds of vacancies in the non-faculty posts, the highest being AIIMS Bhopal where only 28 per cent of non-faculty staff have been filled up. At AIIMS Bhubaneswar and AIIMS Raipur, nearly 40 per cent of such posts are vacant.

Also Read | 'Development in Himachal possible as people voted BJP to power both in state, Centre,' says PM Modi

"The vacancy position in various AIIMS is a matter of concern to the (Parliamentary) Committee. the ministry cannot shrug off its responsibility from monitoring the progress of the recruitment process. Many departments in various AIIMS remain inoperational due to vacant faculty and non-faculty staff,” the lawmakers observed in its report tabled last month.

This is not the first such report. In the last five years, the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Health and Family Welfare and the Comptroller and Auditor General in multiple reports red-flagged the manpower crisis in the six new AIIMS that were approved by the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government two decades ago. The reports flagged how equipment worth crores were lying unpacked in the absence of manpower to operate.

Yet, the Narendra Modi led-government is going ahead with the establishment of 16 more AIIMS including one at Bilaspur in Himachal Pradesh that the Prime Minister inaugurated.

Others are at Raebareli, Mangalgiri, Nagpur, Kalyani, Gorakhpur, Bhatinda, Guwahati, Samba, Awantipura, Darbhanga, Madurai, Deoghar, Rajkot, Bibinagar and Manethi.

Inaugurating the AIIMS Bilaspur, Modi said the hospital would help prevent people of Himachal Pradesh travel to Chandigarh or Delhi seeking tertiary medical care.

Constructed at a cost of more than Rs 1470 crore, the AIIMS Bilaspur, when fully ready, would be having 18 speciality and 17 super speciality departments, 18 modular operation theatres, and 750 beds with 64 ICU beds.

Spread over 247 acres, the hospital is equipped with 24 hours emergency and dialysis facilities, ultrasonography, CT scan, MRI, Amrit Pharmacy and Jan Aushadhi Kendra besides a 30 bedded AYUSH block. The OPD services are likely to kick off later this month. The second phase of the construction is likely to start in June 2023.

The Prime Minister also laid the foundation stone of a medical device park in the hill state and flagged off projects to widen a highway linking the medical device park with major cities.