VIMSAR Resident Doctors Association president Sanjib Kumar Mishra and Nagarika Kalyan Samiti, Sambalpur president Mahendra Mishra and other office bearers of the Samiti met the Revenue Divisional Commissioner, Northern Range on Friday and submitted a memorandum addressing to the Prime Minister for taking step for expediting the AIIMS second campus work at Sundargarh.
The development came after the proposed AIIMs Sundargarh campus got delayed and the State Government has begun initiative to set a MCH in collaboration with the MCL there. Notably, a nine-member team of AIIMS under the leadership of AIIMS Bhubaneswar Director Gitanjali Batmanabane on April 3 had visited Sundargarh and inspected the NTPC medical college building and other facilities as the State Government had given a proposal to the Centre to run the AIIMs second campus by using the existing infrastructure.
The team members had also held a meeting with senior administrative officials of the district, including the Sundargarh Collector and Chief District Medical Officer, etc.
The district administration headed by Sundargarh Collector Nikhil Pawan Kalayn had given a presentation on available infrastructure along with available logistic facility, before the AIIMS team at the time. The visit of the AIIMS team had kindled hope among various quarters and particularly, among people in western Odisha. However, so far while there has been no response from the Central Government about the AIIMS second campus at Sundargarh after about three months of visit of the Central team, the State Government has started taking initiative to establish a MCH at the same campus.
In an office order of Health Department of the State Government, the District Medical Officer, Sundargarh has been appointed Additional Superintendent Cum Nodal Officer of the Government Medical College and Hospital at Sundargarh.
Besides, the Health Department has reportedly taken initiative to complete the formalities so that admission in MBBS course can be started latest by 2022-23. "The DMO has been appointed as the Additional Superintendent cum Nodal Officer for the medical college project at the NTPC infrastructure," said CDMO Sundargarh Saroj Mishra. "Our Health Department has already initiated measures to complete all the formalities of medical college, so that the admission can be started by 2022-23," Mishra added. Notaly, the State Government had signed an MoU with the NTPC on December 13, 2013 where in NTPC had agreed to develop infrastructure for establishing a 500 bedded hospital with medical college and the State Government had agreed to run the institution. Accordingly, the construction work of the hospital cum medical college was started in 2014 and was completed about 18 months back.
After completion of the hospital infrastructure, the State Government had requested the Center to establish the hospital as AIIMS second center of the State. State Health and Family Welfare Minister Naba Kishore Das then had written to the Center in which he had requested to establish the second AIIMS at Sundargarh by using the same infrastructure.