The Tamil Nadu Government has allotted 5.22 acres of land on the Coimbatore Medical College premises to the Central Government to establish a Regional Institute of Paramedical Sciences (RIPS) at a cost of Rs. 150 crore.
The Central Government will bear 75 per cent of the project cost while the State Government will bear the rest.
RIPS is part of the Union Health Ministry’s Rs. 804.43 crore project to enhance the availability of allied health professionals by creating a pool of skilled paramedical workers. A National Institute of Paramedical Sciences was being set up at New Delhi with eight Regional Institutes coming up in other parts of the country. Coimbatore is the only city in Tamil Nadu to get this institute.
It will offer not only new paramedical courses but will also be a centre for continuing medical education for various categories of technical and non-technical personnel.
According to a Government Order issued to this effect recently, the State Government permitted HLL Lifecare Limited (HLL), a Central Government-owned corporation to implement the project. Formerly known as Hindustan Latex Limited, the HLL is a healthcare products manufacturing company based in Thiruvananthapuram and is among the world’s largest manufacturer of contraceptives, accounting for nearly ten 10 per cent of global production.
The Coimbatore institute will be maintained for the first five years by the Central Government, after which it would be handed over to the Coimbatore Medical College. It would offer one-year and two-year diplomas in various courses for vocations such as laboratory technicians and radiology assistants.
The construction would be taken up by the HLL in few months time, CMCH officials said.
According to official sources, the Centre had sought six acres and had proposed to set up the institute at a total cost of Rs. 180 crore. However, the State Government has provided only 5.22 acres, but has agreed to requests related to infrastructure such as location of entry points and other basic amenities.
Published - February 02, 2015 12:00 am IST
