2009 AIIMS project: Stalled, Congress cries vendetta

Vinay Dwivedi, Congress spokesperson in Rae Bareli, said: “The project is becoming a victim of political vendetta, it seems. Otherwise, after spending over Rs 100 crore, it would not have come to a standstill. The Congress president had personally written to Union Health Minister J P Nadda two years ago, but there has not been much progress. We request her to raise the issue in the Parliament… otherwise funds already spent would go waste.”

He added that the building’s out patient department (OPD), which was constructed in 2014, is already showing signs of wear and tear. Dwivedi said that at a meeting of the district party unit a few days ago, some leaders had raised the issue. “We have decided to approach both Congress president Sonia Gandhi and the administration over the pending works,” he added.

Sources said the Centre plans to construct the Rae Bareli AIIMS as per its original cost, which would mean restructuring the existing project. “We would protest if the project remains on hold due to non-appointment of medical staff,” said Dwivedi. Union MoS Anupriya Patel, meanwhile, said: “There is no vendetta. While construction of the residential block and the OPD has been completed, other works are being undertaken. Moreover, Delhi AIIMS has already been instructed to undertake recruitment, which we target to commission by December.”

The AIIMS in Rae Bareli was cleared by Union Cabinet in 2009. The deadline for completion of the entire project, which would also include a medical college, was three years. A Rs 823-crore project, it could not be taken up due to non-availability of land. In 2012, after the SP government came to power in UP, the project started to be pursued. In July 2013, the state government handed over about 100 acres to the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare for the same.

By the time land was handed over for the project, its cost had escalated to around Rs 1,400 crore — requiring the approval of the Expenditure Finance Committee of the Union Finance Ministry. In October 2013, the foundation stone of the project was laid. Work on the construction of the residential complex — worth around Rs 160 crore — was started in November 2013, which is near completion now. A start-up OPD was also constructed at the campus so preliminary medical facilities could be started. But due to non-availability of medical staff, it is yet to take off.

In 2015, Sonia wrote to Union Minister J P Nadda and requested him to look into the project, including the appointment of manpower to at least run the OPD. In his reply, Nadda told Sonia that the project’s revised cost estimates are under consideration.