Separate society for AIIMS at Rishikesh

The government has given its clearance to the proposal for formation of societies for each of the six AIIMS-like institutions being set up under the Pradhan Mantri Swasthya Suraksha Yojana (PMSSY). A decision to this effect was taken during the union cabinet meet on Thursday. These societies will be functional till the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS)-like institutions are brought under an act of parliament.

Under Phase-I of PMSSY, six AIIMS-like institutions are being set up, one each in the states of Rajasthan (Jodhpur), Bihar (Patna), Chattisgarh (Raipur), Madhya Pradesh (Bhopal), Orissa (Bhubaneshwar), and Uttarakhand (Rishikesh) at an estimated cost of Rs. 840 crore per institution including nursing colleges. It is believed that creating legal entities in the form of a society for these institutions will facilitate greater autonomy and faster execution of the projects and will expedite release of funds from the government. Each of these institutions will be registered as a society under the Societies Registration Act, 1860. Each society will have a two-tier organization and management structure. There will also be a board of governors with secretary as chairperson with appropriate representation of state governments. Persons with special knowledge in the field of science and medicine will be nominated by the governing council. The PMSSY has been set up to correct regional imbalances in the availability of affordable/reliable tertiary healthcare services and also to augment facilities for quality medical education in the country. The formation of societies will give these institutions a governance structure, which is not there at present.