Tasaduq Rashid
Srinagar, Jun 5 : Former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister and PDP president Mehbooba Mufti on Friday described the upcoming All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) in Pulwama as the fulfillment of her father and party founder Mufti Mohammad Sayeed’s long-cherished dream.
“The AIIMS is being built. It was my father’s dream and it came true,” PDP President told news agency Kashmir News Service (KNS) during a visit to the project site.
Acknowledging delays in the project, she said work was now progressing satisfactorily. “I have assured the authorities that if they need my intervention with the Union Home Minister or the Health Minister, we will do that,” she said.
Expressing concern over the rising cancer burden in the Union Territory, she stressed that the institute would play a crucial role in research and healthcare delivery. “Research will also play a part in this. There will be recruitment of doctors and nurses. I think this institute will be an example for the whole of Jammu and Kashmir,” she added.
The PDP chief also pitched for prioritizing local residents from Awantipora and Pahroo in non-professional and non-technical recruitments. “This place will become central for the health of J&K. Awantipora and Pahroo will develop a lot,” she said.
Raised the issue of construction curbs within 500 metres of the site, Mufti said she would take it up with the Divisional Commissioner. “On one hand, there is a river. On the other hand, we will obstruct it. People will have difficulties,” she noted.
Recalling her father’s vision, she said Mufti Mohammad Sayeed had dreamt of a university which had already been established, and expressed hope that the AIIMS would be completed in a year or two. “The people of J&K should get benefit from this. We have very capable children here. They will become doctors and nurses,” she said. (KNS)
