With the Central government granting a nod to an extension of the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) at Jhajjar, health facilities are set for an upgrade in Haryana. The government has already provided 300 acres of land at Badsa village for the purpose. The state government will make a whopping investment of Rs 2,000 crore to bring many other health projects to the state.

Interestingly, the AIIMS project had been brought to Jhajjar, majority of which falls in the Lok Sabha constituency of Rohtak, represented by Deepinder Hooda, son of Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda.

The hurry of the government to get this project approved was obvious as it got sanction in a record time, a month, right on the eve of the announcement of the LS elections. A little delay would have put the project on hold. Land was provided free for the project.

No other details of the project, which would be known as AIIMS Extension (Phase-II), are yet clear.

The government had earlier planned a medi city in the National Capital Region (NCR) in order to bring renowned health institutes to the state. A heart institute has already taken off and many big names are in queue to get space in the medi city. “We are well aware of the pressure on the health institutes in Delhi, including AIIMS. This project would not only provide much-needed respite to AIIMS, Delhi, but would also provide world-class health facilities to people of the state and its neighbours,” said a senior official.

Two such institutes are also proposed in UP and West Bengal, but this one would be the biggest of the three. The state has also set the ball rolling for the first-of-its-kind National Institute of Genetic Care, besides a National Institute of Mental Health.

The government is also seeing a huge medical tourism potential in these projects and everything would be accordingly planned so that health care is provided at a reasonable price to the people of the state.