Bhubaneswar: Union Petroleum and Natural Gas and Steel Minister Dharmendra Pradhan on Wednesday said that the people of Odisha will forever be grateful to former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee for granting an All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) to the State.
In his Independence Day Speech on August 15, 2003, Vajpayee announced opening up of six AIIMS at Patna, Raipur, Bhopal, Bhubaneswar, Jaipur and Rishikesh. He laid the foundation stone of AIIMS in Bhubaneswar on July 15, 2003. It was inaugurated on February 26, 2014 by the then Health and Family Welfare Minister Gulam Nabi Azad.
“It was Atal Ji, who had conceived the idea of AIIMS in Bhubaneswar, which today has become an apex centre of healthcare in this part of the country. The people of Odisha will forever be grateful to Atal ji for granting us AIIMS, Bhubaneswar and laying its foundation stone in 2003,” said Pradhan.
Pradhan was attending a programme of unveiling of a life-size bronze statue of Vajpayee in the AIIMS premises here along with Union Health and Family Welfare Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan.
Union Minister Pradhan, who hails from Odisha, thanked the AIIMS, Bhubaneswar authorities and Mahanadi Coal Limited (MCL) for installation of the bronze statue of Vajpayee.
Stating that the AIIMS, Bhubaneswar has now 40 departments, Pradhan said, “Government of India under the leadership of PM Narendra Modi is committed in providing qualitative health care facility to the people of Odisha. 40 departments have been opened in the campus with 1000 bed facility.”
The Union Ministers also dedicated patient care facilities including Modular Operation Theatres, ICU Complex to public and also inaugurated CATH –Lab and DFR (Fluoroscopy) at AIIMS. They also urged the Odisha Government to implement Centre’s Ayushman scheme.
