The name of All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) at Rishikesh has become an issue to score political points between Congress and BJP. The senior BJP leader Sushma Swaraj raised the issue at her recent election meeting at Rishikesh and said that if BJP Government assumes power at Centre, then the AIIMS would be named after legendary Veer Chandra Singh Garhwali, the hero of famous Peshawar incident.
Under Pradhanmantri Swasthya Suraksha Yojna (PMSSY) the NDA Government laid the foundation stone of AIIMS at Barrage road in Rishikesh and named it after Garhwali. Chandra Singh Garhwali commands a special place in the hearts of people of Uttarakhand. The name of Garhwali became a household name in the country when on April 23, 1930 he refused the orders to open fire at unarmed Pathan protestors during the civil disobedience movement at Peshawar in North-West frontier province.
The UPA I Government reviewed NDA Government’s decision to open AIIMS like institutes at six places in the country and decided to open AIIMS and not AIIMS like institutes. Somewhere during this process, name of Garhwali was dropped from the AIIMS.
The BJP leaders are now alleging that when the resolution for AIIMS was presented in parliament all the five Members of Parliament (MP) from Uttarakhand did not objected to the dropping the name of Garhwali. Incidentally all the MPs belonged to the Congress party.
The 960 bed AIIMS spread in an area of 105 acres was inaugurated on 10 February just some days before the implementation of Model of Code of Conduct for general elections. The congress party made it a grand affair and tried to showcase it as on of its achievement.
The Cabinet Minister of Health and family welfare Gulam Nabi Azad during the inauguration ceremony said that 70 per cent vacancies in AIIMS would be filled with local people.
The AIIMS is a big election issue in Haridwar- Rishikesh belt. Though people want that name of Garhwali should be attached with AIIMS to give honor to the hero but more than anything else they want that the premier institute should function in its full capacity and all the proposed departments should start here as soon as possible.