Students’ body seeks AIIMS in Odisha’s Baripada

BARIPADA: Members of Mayurbhanj Adivasi Students’ Association on Friday staged a protest in front of the collectorate demanding establishment of AIIMS in Baripada town.

Led by the association’s founder, Suklal Marandi, the members said though Baripada has a medical college, tribals residing in the town and the rest of the district are deprived of quality healthcare owing to shortage of doctors.

Patients needing critical care are referred to SCB medical college and hospital in Cuttack, AIIMS-Bhubaneswar and other private hospitals which not only take up valuable time but also put financial strain on the poor.

The protesters said PRM medical college and hospital in Baripada has become a referral hospital. They alleged the faculty and doctors posted at the hospital attend office two to three days a week and prefer treating patients at their clinics.