The government has firmed up a proposal to give specific names to all the AIIMS, including that in Delhi, based on regional heroes, freedom fighters, historical events or monuments of the area or their distinct geographical identity.

Majority of the 23 All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) have submitted a list of names, after the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare sought suggestions from them in this matter, official sources said.

AIIMS, many of which are operational while others being set up under the Pradhan Mantri Swasthya Suraksha Yojana (PMSSY), are known by its generic name and distinguished only by their location, an official explained.

"So, the Union health ministry has drafted a proposal to give specific names to all the 23 AIIMS, which include those fully functional, partially operational or under construction," the source said.

In this regard, suggestions were sought for assigning specific names to different AIIMS, which could be linked to local or regional heroes of prominence, freedom fighters, distinct geographical identity of the area where the institute is located and prominent historical events or monuments of the region," the source explained.

Majority of these premier health institutes are learnt to have suggested three to four names along with an explanatory note for the names suggested.

Six new AIIMS -- Bihar (Patna), Chhattisgarh (Raipur), Madhya Pradesh (Bhopal), Odisha (Bhubaneswar), Rajasthan (Jodhpur) and Uttarakhand (Rishikesh) were approved in Phase 1 of PMSSY and are fully functional.

Out of the 16 AIIMS established between 2015 and 2022, MBBS classes and outpatient department services have been started in 10 institutes, while only MBBS classes have been started in another two. The remaining four institutes are at different stages of development.

(With PTI inputs)
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