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Health Minister Ma. Subramanian said it was due to the persistent efforts and the continuous follow-up by the DMK government that construction of AIIMS had taken off in Madurai. Mr. Subramanian, along with Minister for Commercial Taxes and Registration P. Moorthy and Minister for Information Technology and Digital Services Palanivel Thiaga Rajan, inaugurated Dual-energy X-ray Absorptiometry (DXA) scan, worth ₹50 lakh, at Government Rajaji Hospital here on Monday. Speaking to journalists, he said, “On December 17, 2018, the establishment of AIIMS hospitals was announced in seven States, including Punjab, Bihar, Jammu and Kashmir, Assam, Himachal Pradesh, and Tamil Nadu. The Union government announced funding for six places. For Tamil Nadu alone, 85% of the funding was to come from Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) through an ODA (Official Development Assistance) loan, and15% from the Union government,” he stated. The foundation stone was laid on January 27, 2019, and a letter of intent was issued, but nothing happened until the DMK formed the government in the State in 2021, he added. “Only then, 222.47-acre land site required for the AIIMS campus was handed over. Chief Minister M.K. Stalin wrote a letter to the Union government in June 2021 requesting it to provide the entire funding for the project,” he recalled. Despite repeated meetings and deliberations, a delay was observed from the Union government’s side, he said, adding: “Despite it, 50 students were admitted to AIIMS — Madurai. Since the construction of the medical college building was not complete, the State government permitted the students to stay and study at Government Ramanathapuram Medical College from the academic year 2022.” To expedite the construction process, delegates of the Tamil Nadu government visited Japan and met the Vice-President of JICA in February 2023 and handed over a formal letter requesting release of fund, he noted. Subsequently, the AIIMS construction work in Madurai commenced, he added. Moreover, Mr. Subramanian informed that the State government had provided ₹13.13 crore for the 33 KW electricity infrastructure required for the campus and ₹11.61 crore had been sanctioned for water supply infrastructure. Earlier in the day, he laid the foundation stone for the construction of Government Homeopathy Medical College and Hospital at a cost of ₹70 crore at K. Pudupatti in Tirupparankundram.
