Prime Minister to lay foundation of AIIMS, launch other projects in Uttarakhand’s Haldwani

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will lay the foundation stone for the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) on Thursday in Haldwani, Uttarakhand, and announce numerous other projects costing over Rs 17,500 crore.

After the one at Rishikesh, which opened in 2012, this will be the second AIIMS in the hill state.

“Devbhoomi Uttarakhand will move towards touching new heights of progress tomorrow. In Haldwani, I will have the opportunity to lay foundation stones and inaugurate 23 projects worth over ₹17,500 crore. These include infrastructure projects related to health, roads and irrigation,” PM Modi tweeted on Wednesday.

Uttarakhand chief minister Pushkar Singh Dhami said he was grateful to PM Modi for accepting his request for opening an AIIMS for people of the Kumaon region, for whom going all the way to AIIMS, Rishikesh, for treatment is difficult.

Apart from laying the foundation stone for AIIMS Haldwani, the Prime Minister will also lay the foundation stone of 23 projects worth over ₹17,500 crore.

According to a statement from the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO), these projects cover a wide array of sectors across Uttarakhand including irrigation, road, housing, health infrastructure, industry, sanitation, drinking water supply among others.

These 23 projects include laying the foundation stone of AIIMS Rishikesh satellite centre in Udham Singh Nagar district and Jagjivan Ram Government Medical College at Pithoragarh.

“These two hospitals are being built at a cost of about ₹500 crores and ₹450 crore respectively. The improved medical infrastructure will not only help the people of Kumaon and Terai regions but also the bordering areas of Uttar Pradesh,” the PMO statement read.

Thursday’s inauguration events come months ahead of the high stakes assembly elections in Uttarakhand. The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which won the elections last time in 2017, is aiming for a second consecutive win.

The other top contenders in this year’s elections are the Congress and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP).

Given the threat posed by the Omicron variant of the coronavirus, the Uttarakhand high court on Wednesday issued a notice to the Election Commission and sought its response over the public interest litigation (PIL) seeking postponement of the assembly elections in the state. The high court was hearing the PIL regarding the matter on Wednesday.