NEW DELHI: The Union health ministry has sought an additional Rs 150 crore from the finance ministry for the second generation All-India Institutes of Medical Sciences that have emerged as Covid-19 hub in some states, mainly those with weak health infrastructure.
The six second-generation AIIMS, which were started in 2012, are in Patna, Jodhpur, Bhubaneswar, Bhopal, Rishikesh and Raipur.
While some of these, such as AIIMS Patna has been fully converted into Covid hospital in the absence of well-resourced tertiary care hospitals in the state, specific wings of some others have been reserved exclusively for coronavirus patients.
The Centre, in the Union budget this year, had already proposed Rs 6,020 crore for Pradhan Mantri Swasthya Suraksha Yojana under which 22 AIIMS-like institutions are to be developed across India apart from upgrading some district medical colleges -- marking a rise of over 25% for the scheme in the last fiscal.
Of these 22 institutions, 6 are fully functional and MBBS classes are on in 5 others located in Raebareli, Gorakhpur, Mangalagiri, Nagpur, and Bhatinda with out-patient consultations.
In Bibinagar, Kalyani and Deoghar -- on the other hand, the MBBS classes for small batches of students have started without OPD services while several institutions are under various stages of development. They are in Bilaspur, Guwahati, Rajkot, Samba (Jammu), Awantipor (Kashmir), Manethi, Madurai, and Darbhanga.
Officials in the health ministry told The New Indian Express that additional funds have been requested on account of the expenditure towards medical supplies that these hospitals are incurring to treat a large number of Covid-19 patients.
“While some equipment such as ventilators have already been provided to most of these institutions by the Centre, there is constant expenditure on essentials such as PPE kits, N95 masks, drugs and other consumables for which we need additional funds during this unprecedented phase,” a senior official in the ministry told this newspaper.
A part of the fund, he said, will also be used to start in-patient departments for Covid-19 patients in AIIMS at Gorakhpur (Uttar Pradesh) and Bhatinda(Punjab) where students had been enrolled in MBBS course beginning in 2018 academic session.
Another official dealing with the PMSSY project said that some of the functional institutions such as AIIMS Patna have been a crucial centre to treat moderately and severely sick Covid-19 patients due to lack of alternative centres.
“Unavailability of quality tertiary care centres in Bihar is a major concern and in such circumstances, our institution rose to the occasion but we also need funds to be able to cater to the influx of Covid patients in the coming months,” he said.