Chennai, Mar 5 (IANS): Senior CPI-M leader and MP from the Madurai Lok Sabha constituency, Su Venkatesan, said on Tuesday that a private construction company has performed ‘Vastu Pooja’ at a site earmarked for the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) in Madurai.

The CPI-M leader slammed the Vastu Pooja, and called it a publicity stunt and a gimmick, adding that the construction company did not follow any official protocol.

Venkatesan told IANS that the officials did not invite any of the elected representatives or the officials of the district administration, including the Collector, for the Vastu Pooja. He also charged that this was a publicity stunt on the eve of the Lok Sabha polls.

It may be noted that after accepting the letter of acceptance (LoA) issued by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW) on Monday, the private construction company for AIIMS Madurai performed a Vastu Pooja at the site earmarked for the hospital at Thoppur in Madurai on Tuesday.

Officials at AIIMS Madurai told mediapersons that a meeting was held with a team from L&T on Monday.

The officials said that some critical aspects like the contract agreements, priority of construction phases and other aspects of the project were discussed with the construction company officials at the meeting.

The LoA was officially issued to the construction company after that meeting by M. Hanumantha Rao, Executive Director and CEO of AIIMS Madurai.

The duration of the project has been fixed as 33 months from the date of commencement of the construction.