SHEIKH ABID
The union territory of Jammu & Kashmir is all set to have its two AIIMS institutes. While the one at Jammu is 90 percent complete, the other one at Awantipora has encountered roadblocks. But under the present LG administration, it is hoped that the project will find completion before its December deadline.
THE central government, in a historic, developmental decision in the field of health and medical education, had announced two All India Institutes of Medical Sciences – one for Jammu and another for Kashmir in February, 2020. Despite the work on both having kicked off simultaneously, it’s AIIMS, Jammu that seems to have taken charge showing 90% of completion with inauguration expected in the coming months. However, the work on AIIMS, Awantipora seems to be lagging behind with just about 50% of the total project done till date.
We, at KC, attempt a deeper analysis on slow pace of the project at Awantipora.
- The background
The project of AIIMS – spread over 221 acres of proposed land – was approved by the Central government in 2019 at an estimated cost of Rs 1,828 crore. The project entails the construction of approximately 57 buildings, including a hospital, hostels, residential quarters, a football ground, tennis courts and gardens with medicinal plants, among other facilities. Upon completion, AIIMS Awantipora is expected to add 1000 beds, including 300 super-specialty beds to the healthcare capacity in Kashmir. It will also house a medical college with a capacity for 100 students and a nursing college accommodating 60 students.
Earlier, the Union Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare Bharati Pravin Pawar had disclosed, in a written reply in the Parliament while answering a question, that 92 percent of the civil construction work for AIIMS, Jammu had been accomplished. He had also revealed that the J&K government had approved the establishment of five medi-cities in J&K. Additionally, he had shared that 1450 faculty and non-faculty posts had been sanctioned for AIIMS Jammu, of which 549 had been filled; besides, one MRI machine had also been delivered to AIIMS Jammu.
- The update
Though the work on the mega project has been going on for the last four years, yet, barely 45%-50% stands complete owing to multiple reasons and complexities. We, at KC, tried to talk to as many officials concerned as we could talk to directly or indirectly and indeed, they shared notes on the probable complexities that could have caused the delay.
These four years have seen many blockades in the way of the project besides the halt in the construction during winters and problems of labourers from outside Kashmir while trying to adapt to the harsh climatic conditions here.
Some employees, on condition of anonymity, blame the delay on the construction company’s lackadaisical approach towards completing the project swiftly and within stipulated time. They also mention ill-treatment of those involved in the process – like daily wage labourers, site engineers, drivers, trolley operators etc. It is pertinent to mention that around 400 employees working in various capacities had also held multiple protests alleging that the construction company did not resolve the various issues raised.
“We are a few hundred labourers working on contractual daily wage basis which is not that productive and consistent. If the government wants to complete this project within a stipulated time frame i.e., by the end of this year, they need to double the manpower as well as other requisite machinery that needs to be working 24X7 in double shifts. Only then there is a possibility of timely completion of the medical facility; otherwise it is a distant dream,” comments an employee working on the project.
- In need of an ED
Besides infrastructural backlog, there seems to be an administrative lacuna too in the institute. This is due to the fact that earlier, the central government had appointed Lt. General Dr Anup Banerji, a retired medico, as its first Executive Director in June 2022. Banerji had served as Director General, Armed Forces Medical Services (AFMS) before attaining superannuation, and was named first Executive Director of the AIIMS, Awantipora. However, the official did not join the post making the institute headless administratively.
But “the government is now looking for a new Executive Director and the process to recruit a new one is on,” reveals an official.
- The chief secretary’s enterprise
Chief Secretary Attal Duloo, while holding the post of J&K Government’s Financial Commissioner, Health & Medical Education Department way back in 2021, had himself pursued the matter regarding a no-objection certificate from the Defence Ministry which had to be issued in view of the location of a military garrison in the vicinity of the AIIMS construction site at Awantipora. An assurance from him has played a pivotal role in clearing the decks for resumption of work at AIIMS, Awantipora and it can also put to rest the rising apprehensions about the completion of the civil construction works before the deadline of December 2024.
- Of AIIMS & a burden lessened
With the coming of such a huge medical facility, there will be an intense relief for patients seeking tertiary health facility across Jammu & Kashmir. Besides, there will be more medical doctors who will be graduating from the institute along with other nursing & paramedical passouts. AIIMS, Jammu has already started its first batch of MBBS students and it will be fully operational for other medical activities in the coming months.
These two medical institutes will eventually lessen the ever-increasing burden on the UT’s tertiary care facilities, particularly of SKIMS and SMHS hospitals.
“The people of Jammu & Kashmir are already suffering a lot for want of tertiary care treatments due our geographical limitations unlike the rest of the country. These two AIIMS institutes will be a saviour for especially those suffering from life threatening ailments,” hopes Bashir Ahmad, a local.
This is precisely why some locals from Awantipora and the neighbouring areas have urged the government to expedite the project’s completion by December 2024 so that their suffering gets alleviated.
The incumbent Jammu & Kashmir government is committed to not only complete the new developmental projects in their given timelines but also to complete the languishing projects left incomplete by the previous governments of the erstwhile Jammu & Kashmir state. The locals are hopeful of timely completion of the ongoing projects under the able guidance of LG Manoj Sinha and CS Atal Duloo. With these two at the helm of affairs along with the efforts of the Union Government, the AIIMS project should be seeing the light of day well before the 2024 December deadline.
