Himachal to set up AIIMS at Bilaspur

The Himachal Government on Friday decided to set up an AIIMS-like institute in Bilaspur district and directed the revenue authorities to identify 200 acres of land for it. The Cabinet, presided over by Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh, decided to set up AIIMS at Bilaspur (the home district of Union Health Minister JP Nadda) as it was located in the proximity of five districts — Solan, Mandi, Hamirpur, Una and Shimla.

 

Himachal was not among the four states where AIIMS-like  institutes were announced by Finance Minister Arun Jaitely in the Union Budget. The matter was taken up by the state government with the Centre and the Union Health Minister had asked the state government to identify 200 acres for setting up the institute. The state government offered Dr RP Medical College, Tanda (Kangra) for AIIMS, but it was rejected by the Union Government. The state government has already identified land near Kotipura, about 20 km from Bilaspur, official sources said. With Nadda at the helm of affairs at the Centre, all related matters would be expedited and the institution would come up soon, said a senior official. The Cabinet also decided to send a revised proposal for setting up the main campus of Central University at Dharamsala after taking care of the objections raised by the Environment Ministry.

 

It also decided to bring the PTA (grant-in-aid) teachers on contract after completion of seven years of continuous service. Earlier, it was eight years.