Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal on Sunday visited the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) construction site at Changsari in Kamrup and took stock of the progress of its construction.
He also held a meeting with officials of the construction firm engaged for building the institution.
During the meeting, Sonowal was apprised that the progress of construction was going on in an expected manner and the first stage of construction would be completed within its stipulated deadline in June 2021 and the 2nd stage would be completed within June 2022.
On being informed that many of the skilled labourers, from outside the state, engaged in the construction had gone back to their native places due to COVID-19 induced lockdown, Sonowal directed the construction firm to engage local labourers from within the state to fill-up the manpower requirement.
He also urged to tap the human resources in the form of state’s youths who had returned from various places of the country because of COVID-19 pandemic scenario.
The Chief Minister directed departments like PWD, PHED, APDCL etc. to extend full cooperation in the construction of AIIMS.
He reviewed the status of installation of power substations, drainage layout for releasing stormwater coming down from the nearby hills, provision for drinking water, emergency response system like fire outbreak management within the institution complex etc.
He emphasized on the need for having a state-of-the-art control room for managing situations like fire outbreak etc.
Highlighting the beautiful landscape surrounding the AIIMS complex site, the Chief Minister directed the concerned officials engaged in the construction of the institution to make it one of the most beautiful AIIMS campuses in the country so that tourists from outside feel attracted to visit it.
Notably out of the total project cost of more than Rs. 1200 crore an amount of Rs. 757 crore has been released by the Central Government for construction of the AIIMS.
Once completed, this institution will transform Assam into a medical hub of not only North East Region but the entire South East Asia, Sonowal said.
The CM also appreciated health minister Himanta Biswa Sharma for constantly monitoring and supervising the construction works and thanked the local people of Changsari for extending their help and cooperation towards the construction of the institution.
People from the state would not need to go outside to get better medical facilities as AIIMS would enable the people to get super speciality treatment of various diseases here in the state itself, he said.