Jammu--Going by the popular sentiments in the region, the Union Minister of State for the PMO, Dr Jitendra Singh, on Thursday said that AIIMS will be first set up in Jammu than any other part of the state.
“We have no objection if AIIMS is set up in any other part of the state, but it will not come up before it comes up in Jammu,” he said. “The AIIMS in any other part of the state will be constructed either along with the construction of a similar institution in Jammu or after it,” he added.
However, Singh’s statement is likely to rake up another controversy over the issue which has already threatened to divide the sensitive state border on regional lines, with people in Jammu agitating over the shifting of the premier health institution to the Valley. They alleged that Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley had in his budget speech announced AIIMS for Jammu.
Chief Minister Mufti Sayeed, however, said that in the Agenda for Alliance finalised between PDP and the BJP before government formation in the state, AIIMS was allocated to the Valley and IIT and IIM to Jammu.
After successfully organising complete shut down in Jammu twice during last one month, the Jammu Bar Association coordination committee comprising various political, social, religious and trade organizations have already announced its plan to gherao BJP ministers and hold demonstrations on June 5 when Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh will be visiting the state.
He admitted that the AIIMS was announced for Jammu and he had also thanked the Finance Minister for it.
INDIAN EXPRESS
