HYDERABAD: Finally, the Union Finance Ministry gives the "in principle approval" for All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) to be established in Telangana and an office memorandum for the same was issued on April 17. The State Government received the orders on Friday.
The land for the proposed AIIMS has to be identified first. Issues relating to land acquisition with regard to time and cost overrun are major problems in most of the proposals. Hence land free from encumbrances may be secured first for the proposal, the Finance Ministry stated in its memorandum.
The expenditure finance committee (EFC) proposal shall be submitted only after the land has been taken over by the Union Government and DPR based on the land, the memo further stated.
The Finance Ministry also suggested the detailed project report (DPR) based on the land allocated may be prepared by a reputed agency and submitted along with the proposal. Executing agency may also be identified as per the provisions of General Financial Rules (GFR). The Finance Ministry memo also wanted the concerned officials to submit the comparison of cost incurred in the recently established AIIMS and the new AIIMS proposed in Telangana and also the facilities proposed in other AIIMS in the country and in the new AIIMS. The Finance Ministry also suggested adopting turnkey EPC contract model for the Telangana AIIMS for quality construction and timely completion.
The Centre will release funds from the Pradhan Mantri Swasthya Suraksha Yojana (PMSSY) which has a budget allocation of Rs 3,825 crore for 2018-19.
STATE TO IDENTIFY LAND: Meanwhile, the State government officials are on the job of identifying the required land for the AIIMS. Initially, the State government thought of establishing AIIMS at Bibinagar. Since NIMS was set up there, the State government has been searching a suitable land around Hyderabad. Four to five places are under consideration and the government may finalise one of them soon, according to sources. Once the suitable land is identified as per the guidelines of the Central government, then the file will be circulated to the Chief Minister, sources said.
It may be recalled that the TRS MPs have stalled the Lok Sabha in 2017-18 budget session demanding establishment of AIIMS in Telangana. The Union Finance Minister hurriedly announced on the last day of the Lok Sabha that AIIMS would be established in Telangana. But, there has been no progress in the last one year. The Finance Ministry did not allot funds in the budget for AIIMS in Telangana.
Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao met Prime Minister and others in the recent past and pushed the proposal hard.