In an official statement made by the union Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad, the announcement of the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) Patna to start this year was made.
Azad told the media in a press conference that the concerned officials have been directed to complete the unfinished projects of the medical college within the next two to three months. "I hope that the medical college will start this year" he said while inspecting the construction site of AIIMS-Patna.
Though the medical college is to start this year, Azad said that it would take the hospital to be fully operational, 'The hospital should be operational by next year,' he said.
Lauding the quality of materials being used for the construction of the institution he expressed his satisfaction which the constructional progress and quality. However he did warn the contractors responsible for the overseeing of the construction of AIIMS about the Government's strict decision of deciding to award or penalize them on the basis of the proposed completion time of the project.
"If the contractors engaged in the construction projects of AIIMS across the country, delay the work, the government would be forced to impose a penalty, and in case they finish the work on time they shall be awarded", said Azad.
The visit of the Union Minister had been preceded by that of the state's Chief Minister Nitesh Kumar, who visited the site a few days ago and gave directions for its early completion.
The directions for the construction of five new AIIMS like institutes across the country had been given by the central government in the 2006, the places chosen for the setting up of the institutes included Patna, Bhopal, Bhubaneshwar, Jaipur and Rishikesh, and in the year 2009 the government further decided to set up two more institutes at Rajganj in West Bengal and Rae Bareilly in Uttar Pradesh.
The setting up of such premier institutes in the country seeks to aid the growing medical name of the country in the global health market.