AIIMS may go to Bathinda, not Doaba region

Sarbjit Dhaliwal

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, April 26

Things are moving fast to pave the way for setting up the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) in Bathinda.

Sources said Punjab Agricultural University (PAU) had been approached by the state government to give at least 80 acres of land from its research farm spread over 130 acres on the outskirts of Bathinda for setting up AIIMS.

There are reports that the Health Department had insisted that the PAU should part with at least 100 acres. But Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal told the officials concerned that 80 acres would be enough for the purpose.

Earlier, Union Minister Vijay Sampla had insisted that this institute should be set up in Doaba region where people are devoid of better medical facilities. He had also written to the Central Government saying that land was available in Kapurthala district to set up the institute.

However, Union Minister Harsimrat Kaur Badal has been pressing that the institute be set up in her constituency.

At the research farm, the PAU and the Indian Council of Agriculture Research conduct various research projects. It is one the best research farms in the state because of the texture of the soil. Since a major chunk of the land would now go to AIIMS, the research work is likely to come to a naught.

Meanwhile, a plea has been made to the state government to set up AIIMS at Mansa where land, which was earmarked to open educational institutes in public sector, is available in plenty. By doing so, the research farm can be saved and the Mansa belt would get better health facilities.