Union food processing industry minister Mrs Harsimrat Kaur Badal hailed the decision of prime minister Mr Narendra Modi for giving approval for establishment of the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) at Bathinda in the union cabinet meeting held today.Stating this she said the NDA had by this decision given a bonanza to the border State as well as its Malwa region which was in dire need of this facility. She said the premier health institute would be established at a cost of Rs. 926 crore under the Pradhan Mantri Swasthya Suraksha Yojna (PMSSY) on the Bathinda-Dabwali Road. "This prestigious institute will have facility of 750 beds ensuring quality indoor healthcare for people of Malwa”, she added.Mrs Badal further said the Punjab government had already acquired around 170 acres land for the institute which would provide employment to about 3,000 people. Besides this, allotment of water supply, power connection at the site, transfer of land and other necessary formalities have also been completed by the district administration, she added.
He informed that this institute would be setup on the pattern of AIIMS Delhi and fill the gap of tertiary healthcare facilities as well as quality medical education, distance education and nursing courses in the state. Profusely thanking the Prime Minister for this bonanza for establishing the AIIMS at Bathinda, second most important project after Bathinda Refinery, he also requested Mr Modi to lay its foundation stone.Elaborating on the importance of AIIMS, she said the state government would be able to achieve its target of providing the best of health facilities to its people through this premier health institute and save them from travelling to far off places for quality and affordable treatment.Giving more details regarding better treatment facilities to cancer patients, Mrs Badal said a 100 bedded Advanced Cancer Diagnostic Treatment and Research Centre was also being set up at Bathinda. In addition to this a 300 bedded Cancer Treatment Centre at Mullanpur (New Chandigarh) and Homi Bhabha Cancer Care Hospital at Ghabdan in Sangrur district would also provide treatment facilities to the patients, she added.