PM to inaugurate NEIGRIMS and IIM in Meghalaya

Shillong, Sep 15 (UNI) Prime Minister Manmohan Singh inaugurate the much awaited super specialty hospital North East Indira Gandhi Regional Institute for Medical Sciences(NEIGRIMS) in Meghalaya on October 15.

The foundation stone of Rs 422.60 crore project, stretching over 306 acres at Mawdiangdiang area, about 15 kms from Shillong, was laid by former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi in 1986.

After inaugurating the hospital, Dr Singh would also lay the foundation stone of a management institute in Shillong.

The new institute, christened Rajiv Gandhi Indian Institute of Management (RGIIM), would get a grant of Rs 120 crore for non-recurring expenditure over a period of five years and Rs 45 crore for recurring expenditure over a period of six years.

During his recent visit to New Delhi, Meghalaya Chief Minister D D Lapang met Union Health and Family Welfare Minister Anbumani Ramadoss and discussed the functioning of the hospital.

Dr Ramdoss told Mr Lapang that the NEIGRIMS would be provided with all modern equipment for its effective functioning.

The Centre was also exploring ways and means to appoint specialist doctors by tying up with the defence authorities and others.

Mr Lapang had asked state Chief Secretary Ranjan Chatterjee to direct the PWD to repair and improve roads from the city to the NEIGRIMS and RGIIM and examine the feasibility of constructing a temporary helipad in the area.

The Chief Minister further asked the chief secretary to take up the issue of poor condition of the National Highway from Shillong to Guwahati with the PWD.

An autonomous institute, NEIGRIMS is Centre-funded and the region's lone postgraduate medical institute and the third in the country to be set up by the Health and Family Welfare Ministry.

Former Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee had declared NEIGRIMS as a national institute on January 22, 2000, when he visited Shillong. The progress and development of the institute had been keenly monitored by the Prime Minister's Office.

UNI