AIIMS in Madurai above minister post for me, says Udayakumar

Speaking to reporters at Tiruchy airport on Friday, on his way to take part in the opening of a government medical college in Pudukkottai, Udayakumar said, “I am making all out efforts to bring the AIIMS branch to Madurai to benefit the people of southern districts. We have put forth our demands to the Chief Minister and he has assured to recommend the same. However, it is in the hands of the Centre to take the final call.” 

He further stressed, “If Madurai is not selected as the venue for the AIIMS venue, I am ready to quit my ministerial post to show the seriousness of the situation.”  

During the day, the response of the Ministry for Health and Family Welfare to a RTI query posed by various Associations, including the People’s Movement for AIIMS in Madurai that was doing the rounds in social media, said “Although a Central team visited Tamil Nadu as early as April 23 to 25, 2015 and inspected all the sites, so far a final decision pertaining to the location has not been announced by the Government of India and the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, which maintain that it is under consideration. 

However, it is learnt that Sengipatti in Thanjavur district has been identified as the best suited location for setting up of AIIMS.” When contacted, Health Secretary J Radhakrishnan said, “We only had to provide land and submit information about the advantages of each area to the Government of India. It is now up to them to decide on the location.”