Prime Minister Narendra Modi will visit Himachal Pradesh on Wednesday to inaugurate and lay the foundation stone of various projects worth over ₹ 3,650 crore and inaugurate the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) in Bilaspur. The Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) said Prime Minister Modi will also attend the Dussehra celebrations in Kullu.
Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur said PM Modi will dedicate AIIMS to the people of the state. Thakur, union minister Anurag Thakur and BJP president JP Nadda took stock of the situation ahead of the Prime Minister’s visit. PM Modi will address a public rally at Luhnu Ground in Bilaspur on Wednesday. The visit has significance as it comes ahead of the Himachal Pradesh elections where the incumbent BJP is seeking another term.
The foundation stone of AIIMS Bilaspur was laid by the Prime Minister in October 2017 and the hospital is being set up under the Pradhan Mantri Swasthya Suraksha Yojana of the Centre. Built at a cost of over ₹1,470 crore, it is a state-of-the-art hospital with 18 specialty and 17 super specialty wards, 18 modular operation theaters and 750 beds with 64 ICU beds, according to the PMO office.
Spread over 247 acres, it is equipped with 24-hour emergency and dialysis facilities, modern diagnostic equipment and a 30-bed AYUSH block. The hospital has also set up a Center for Digital Health to provide health services in the tribal and inaccessible tribal areas of Himachal Pradesh. The hospital will provide specialized health services through health camps in inaccessible tribal and high Himalayan areas such as Kaza, Saluni and Keylong.
The hospital admits 100 students in MBBS course and 60 students in nursing courses every year. Development projects to be unveiled by the Prime Minister include foundation stone laying of about 31 km long four-lane National Highway project from Pinjore to Nalagarh on NH-105 at a cost of over ₹1,690 crore. The road is a major link for traffic from Ambala, Chandigarh, Panchkula and Solan/Shimla towards Bilaspur, Mandi and Manali.
A PMO report said, “This expressway will provide better transport facilities in Nalagarh-Baddi, the industrial hub of Himachal Pradesh and will also promote further industrial development in the region. It will also boost tourism in the state.” The Prime Minister will also lay the foundation stone of a medical device park at Nalagarh, which will be built at a cost of about ₹ 350 crore. A Memorandum of Understanding (Mou) worth over ₹ 800 crore has already been signed for setting up industries in this medical device park. The project will significantly increase job opportunities in the region.
Later, PM Modi will also inaugurate the Government Hydro Engineering Academy at Bandla. “The college is costing about ₹ 140 crore and will help make available trained manpower for hydro projects in which Himachal Pradesh is one of the leading states. It will help upskill the youth and provide ample employment opportunities in the hydropower sector,” the statement said.
PM Modi will also become the first Prime Minister of the country to attend Kullu Dussehra. Kullu Dussehra International Festival will be celebrated from October 5 to 11 at Dhalpur Ground of Kullu. The festival features a gathering of more than 300 deities of the valley. On the first day of the festival, the deities in their well-decorated litters pay obeisance at the temple of the main deity Bhagwan Raghunath Ji and then proceed to the Dhalpur Ground. “The Prime Minister will witness this divine ‘Rath Yatra’ and a grand gathering of deities at the historic Kullu Dussehra celebrations,” the PMO said.
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