The Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court on August 18, Tuesday, has told the Union Government that it expects the construction of an AIIMS facility in Thoppur, Madurai to be completed in 36 months. The divisional bench was hearing a PIL filed by a KK Ramesh, a resident of Madurai.
The PIL states that the Union Government had announced the project to set up an AIIMS in Madurai on February 28, 2015. It was only on 20 June, 2018 that the location for the site—Thoppur—was even announced, the PIL further adds. Also that, construction work for AIIMS facilities has begun in other states despite being announced after the Tamil Nadu site. Given these details, KK Ramesh asked the court to pass an order instructing the Union Cabinet to get the building contract ready as soon as possible and allocate the necessary funds.
Earlier in 2018, the Union government had responded in a counter affidavit to a PIL filed by KK Ramesh seeking to expediate the construction of AIIMS, saying that the facility would be functional 45 months from when it receives cabinet approval. An RTI filed in the same year had revealed that funds had not even been allocated for the project. In 2019, PM Modi laid the foundation for the facility but no further work was done on the site. This even became a point during the campaigns for the 2021 assembly elections in the state, when Udhyanidhi Stalin held up a single brick to indicate the total amount of construction work on the site.
In June this year, another PIL filed by Pushpavam, also a Madurai resident, had asked for a temporary site for an out patient department until the main campus was constructed. The petitioner had drawn attention to how permissions for 22 AIIMS facilities across the country had been given, six of which are functional now. The PIL elaborated that in several states, construction work was going on simultaneously while an out patient department was operational and MBBS admissions had begun. None of this has happened in Madurai, the petition says.
Between June and July, the Union government had offered three temporary options for the commencement of MBBS classes, but the Tamil Nadu Health Minister Ma Subramanian had said that the state government was not comfortable with any of the three suggestions.
On Tuesday, in response to KK Ramesh’s petition, the divisional bench comprising of N Kirubakaran and Justice B Pugalendh had said the court expects the AIIMS facility in Thoppur, Madurai to be completed in 36 months and for a project consultant to be appointed soon.
As reported in the Times of India, on Tuesday, the assistant solicitor general LK Victoria Gowri appeared on behalf of the Union government in response to the PIL filed by Pushpavam who had petitioned for the commencement of MBBS classes and a temporary OPD set up. Gowri told the court that the state government had given the assurance that 50 students could be admitted for the time being in medical colleges in Theni and Sivagangai districts, but also that they required a specific proposal from AIIMS. Following this, she reportedly said that a communication had been sent from the AIIMS executive director saying that classes could commence if the state would set up the necessary facilities on of the sites while also noting that NEET is to be held on September 12.
The report also says the divisional bench of Justice M Duraiswamy and Justice K Murali Shankar have directed both the state and the union government to file their responses regarding these communications before the court, adjourning the hearing to September 13.