The government has approved the setting up of two AIIMS-like institutions, one each at Rae Bareli in Uttar Pradesh and at Raigunj, Uttar Dinajpur in West Bengal. Giving this information in the Rajya Sabha today, Minister of Health and Family Welfare Ghulam Nabi Azad said that another six AIIMS-like institutions are already being set up at Bhopal, Bhubaneswar, Jodhpur, Patna, Raipur and Rishikesh at a cost of 840 crore rupees each. Academic Session for 50 MBBS students at each of the six new AIIMS has already commenced in September this year.
In a separate reply, Mr. Azad said the government has taken several steps to liberalise norms for opening of new medical colleges in order to fulfill the increasing demand of doctors. Provisions include relaxation of minimum land requirement, raising the age limit for medical faculty from 65 to 70 years and granting recognition to graduate and post-graduate medical degrees of five English-speaking countries, namely the U.S., U.K., Canada, Australia and New Zealand.