Prime minister Narendra Modi will virtually lay the foundation stone of the All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Rajkot, on December 31, an official release from the Gujarat government said on Friday. The announcement comes days after the maiden academic session of the newly-set up institute began from a temporary campus of the premier institute on December 21. An official release from the state information department said that the Prime Minister would lay the foundation stone of the AIIMS campus near Para Pipaliya village, through video-conferencing from Delhi, while Chief Minister Vijay Rupani would remain present at the site in Rajkot. Rajkot district collector Remya Mohan and other top officers of the district administration visited the site on Friday and held a meeting to make preparations for the ceremony on December 31. Shramdeep Sinha, deputy director (administration) of AIIMS, Rajkot, was also present. On December 21, Union Minister for Health and Family Welfare Harsh Vardhan and Gujarat CM Rupani virtually inaugurated the maiden academic session of 50 MBBS students of AIIMS Rajkot. The campus is now functioning out of a section of the building of Pandit Deendayal Upadhayay Government Medical College and PDU Hospital in the city. The state government has allotted 200 acres land between Para Pipaliya and Khandheri villages on Jamnagar road on the northern periphery of the city. The central government has approved a total outlay of Rs1,195 crore for the proposed campus, which is expected to come up within three years.
