Who does not know the All India Institute of Medical Sciences i.e. AIIMS located in the capital Delhi. People even from far-flung areas of the country come to AIIMS to see the doctor. But do you know how AIIMS was established and whose hand was behind it? Today we are going to tell you about the princess who dreamed of AIIMS.
Establishment of AIIMS
The country’s first female health Minister Rajkumari Amrit Kaur was the woman who dreamed of AIIMS. Let us tell you that Princess Amrit Kaur was born on 2 February 1887 in Lucknow. His father was Raja Harnam Singh Ahluwalia, who was honored with the title of Sir by the British. He was the younger son of the Maharaja of the princely state of Kapurthala in Punjab.
According to the information, when the dispute over the throne of Kapurthala started, Raja Harnam Singh left the princely state and came to Lucknow from Kapurthala. After this he worked as the manager of the princely state of Awadh. Not only this, he changed his religion and became a Christian. Raja Harnam Singh was married to Priscilla of West Bengal (then Bengal), whose father’s name was Gokulnath Chatterjee. Raja Saheb and Priscilla had nine sons. Princess Amrit Kaur was born as the youngest and 10th child.
The princess had studied from abroad
Raja Harnam Singh Ahluwalia married Princess Amrit Kaur. Kaur was sent abroad to study. She completed her schooling from Sheerbarn School for Girls located in Dorset, England. After this, Princess Amrit Kaur took admission in Oxford University and graduated from there. After completing her studies, the princess returned to India in 1908.
Beginning of politics
Influenced by Mahatma Gandhi’s political guru Gopalkrishna Gokhale, the princess Amrit Kaur took part in the freedom struggle. It was through him that the princess learned about Mahatma Gandhi. After this, she became a fan of Mahatma Gandhi and even went to jail because of the Dandi March. After the death of his parents, he left the palace in 1930 and dedicated his life to the freedom movement. Amrit Kaur is considered to have made a big contribution in the country’s freedom struggle.
Got a place in the cabinet
Foreign educated princess Amrit Kaur was made the Health Minister after the independence of the country. However, when the first cabinet of independent India was formed under the leadership of Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, Princess Amrit Kaur’s name was not there in it. But at the behest of Mahatma Gandhi, she was included in the cabinet.
Dream of building AIIMS
Amrita Kaur’s dream was that treatment in the country And a higher institute should be established for research in the medical world. For this, as Health Minister, he introduced a new bill in the Lok Sabha on 18 February 1956. It is said that he had not prepared any speech for presenting the bill in the House. Princess Amrit Kaur, as the Health Minister, had said that it was always my dream that to maintain the high level of post-graduate medical education and medical education in the country, there should be such an institution which would provide the youth with the same in their own country. Inspire for further studies.
Funds raised for AIIMS
Everyone was appreciating this dream of Amrita Kaur, but at that time the construction A lot of money was likely to be involved. Therefore, along with presenting the bill, Princess Amrit Kaur also started raising funds for the establishment of AIIMS. Because of his friendship abroad, he made good use of his contacts. Through this, he raised funds from America as well as Sweden, West Germany, New Zealand and Australia. Not only this, he had also given his palace built in Shimla for AIIMS. Let us tell you that the All India Institute of Medical Sciences Act was passed in both the houses of the Parliament in May 1956 and its foundation was laid. Let us tell you that Amrita Kaur was also the first Asian woman to become the head of the World Health Assembly. He died on 6 February 1964 in New Delhi.
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