The Loksabha today passed a bill to help the Centre to set up AIIMS-like institutes across the country. The All-India Institute of Medical Sciences (Amendment) Bill, 2012, will also replace a recent Ordinance which allowed the six AIIMS-like institutes to become operational from next month. The bill aims at correcting the imbalance in availability of affordable healthcare.

The government had announced six AIIMS-like institutes to be set up in Patna, Bhopal, Raipur, Bhubaneshwar, Jodhpur and Rishikesh. The measure will also help the Centre to change the status of the six new institutes to be autonomous body corporates on the lines of the AIIMS in Delhi.

AIR correspondent reports that the bill, piloted by Health and Family welfare Minister Mr. Gulam Nabi Azad, was passed without discussion amidts noisy scenes by BJP members.