NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi laid the foundation stone and dedicated to the nation various projects worth more than Rs 3,400 crore in Guwahati, Assam on April 14. He dedicated AIIMS Guwahati and three other medical colleges, and laid the foundation stone of Assam Advanced Health Care Innovation Institute (AAHII) and launched ‘Aapke Dwar Ayushman’ campaign by distributing Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (AB-PMJAY) cards to eligible beneficiaries.
The PM said that the previous governments had created a feeling of alienation towards the Northeast and deemed it too far from the mainland. But the present government, the Prime Minister explained, regards the general public as a form of God, and has made the Northeast very approachable.
The operationalisation of AIIMS, Guwahati marks a momentous occasion for Assam and the entire North-East region. The foundation stone of this hospital was also laid by the Prime Minister in May 2017. Built at a cost of more than Rs. 1120 crores, AIIMS Guwahati is a state-of-the-art hospital with a capacity of 750 beds including 30 AYUSH beds. This hospital will have an annual intake capacity of 100 MBBS students every year along with providing world-class health facilities to the people of the Northeast.
The Prime Minister dedicated to the nation three medical colleges viz Nalbari Medical College, Nalbari; Nagaon Medical College, Nagaon; and Kokrajhar Medical College, Kokrajhar, built at a cost of about Rs 615 crore, Rs 600 crore and Rs 535 crore respectively. Each medical college has an attached 500-bed teaching hospital with OPD/IPD services including emergency services, ICU facilities, OT and diagnostic facilities etc. Each medical college will have an annual intake capacity of 100 MBBS students.
The ceremonial launch of ‘Aapke Dwar Ayushman’ campaign by the Prime Minister is a step towards realising his vision of reaching out to every beneficiary to ensure 100 percent saturation of welfare schemes. Prime Minister also distributed Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (AB-PMJAY) cards to three representative beneficiaries, which was followed by the distribution of about 1.1 crore AB-PMJAY Cards in all districts of the state.
Assam Advanced Health Care Innovation Institute (AAHII), to be built at a cost of about Rs. 546 crores, will facilitate cutting-edge inventions and R&D in medicine and healthcare, identify the nation’s unique problems related to health and promote the development of new technologies for solving those problems.
