No question of shifting AIIMS from Raiganj, says Azad

Berhampore (

), Oct 8: Senior Congress leader and Union Health Minister

said on Sunday that the proposed

hospital at Raiganj would be set up at that place and there is no question of shifting it.

"There is no question of shifting the proposed AIIMS hospital from Raiganj. If the West Bengal government wants AIIMS hospital in some other place, then let them give a suggestion to us and we would consider another AIIMS hospital but there is no question of shifting the one from Raiganj," Azad said.

The AIIMS hospital at Raiganj would help the people of North Bengal a lot and they wont have to travel to Kolkata to get good medical facilities, Azad said while addressing a series of public meetings here, Lalgola and other places while campaigning for Abhijit Mukherjee, the Congress candidate for the by-election to the Jangipur Lok Sabha seat.

West Bengal Chief minister and Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee reportedly wants that proposed AIIMS hospital sanctioned to come up at Raiganj to be shifted to Kalyani.

In a letter to Azad, Trinamool Congress MP Sudip Bandopadhyay when he was the Union minister of state for Health had said that since health was a state subject, "it is in the best position to access the ground reality and select an optimum site for selecting the AIIMS hospital."

Deepa Dasmunshi, wife of former Union minister and Congress leader Priya Ranjan Dasmunshi, is the Congress MP from Raiganj.

Deepa a critic of Mamata Banerjee is a strong votary of setting up of the AIIMS hospital in Raiganj.

By-elections to the Jangipur Lok Sabha seat would be held on Oct 10. The seat was vacated by Pranab Mukerjee for contesting the Presidential election.

Pranab Mukherjee's son Abijit is the Congress candidate and the Trinamool Congress has not put up any candidate in the by-election.

PTI