No decision taken on AIIMS site in Tamil Nadu, says Health official

A senior official told DT Next , “As far as AIIMS is concerned, it is entirely a Central government project.” Stating that Tamil Nadu’s role is limited to allotting land, granting various regulatory permissions and providing infrastructural access to the selected site, he said the Union government has not finalised the location until now. 

It may be recalled that the announcement for setting up an AIIMS was made in the state budget in 2015-16. A Central team then inspected the five sites, including Sengipatti, that were suggested. 

“The team presented a detailed report on all the five sites. Subsequently, in March 2017, the criteria of selecting all major Central projects was changed, following which the Union government came up with a different method of identifying the sites. All district collectors had submitted reports for the same.” 

“The Central team had said that Sengipatti was the best preferred option. However, owing to a change in the selection criteria, the Centre had demanded another detailed report, which was also sent immediately,” added the official.