AIIMS Darbhanga to come up at separate location: CM Nitish Kumar

Patna: The long-pending project to set up Bihar’s second All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) in Darbhanga has made some progress as the Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Thursday informed that the project will be shifted to another location and the land in this regard has been identified.

Such an announcement was made after the Union government declared to build AIIMS separately from Darbhanga Medical College and Hospital (DMCH) campus. Therefore, the state government has identified another location away from the DMCH campus.

Although Kumar refused to disclose details about the new land, he and his deputy Tejashwi Yadav had agreed to shift the location of AIIMS from DMCH to Ashok Paper Mills in Hayaghat on the outskirts of the town, HT reports.

Also read- Land Issue Delaying Second AIIMS Project In Bihar

Regarding the construction of the All India Institute of Medical Sciences in Darbhanga, Nitish Kumar said that the state government made the land available to the centre.

During his Samadhan Yatra, he said, earlier he had proposed to upgrade Darbhanga Government Medical College Hospital into AIIMS but the centre did not agree and decided to construct it separately.

Medical Dialogues team had earlier reported that in 2015-16, the project of setting up a second AIIMS in the state was proposed in Union Budget. The centre had asked the state to find more alternative locations of 200-acre land along with requisite infrastructure.

In September 2020, Union Minister, Ashwini Kumar Choubey confirmed that the proposed AIIMS in Darbhanga will have a 700-bed facility that will be developed with a budget of Rs 1361 crore, as approved by the ministry of finance.

The Union Minister of State for Health and Welfare, Ashwani Kumar Choubey apprised that the central government has approved the project's initial report and reviewed the entire project. Choubey also informed that the construction work would be initiated soon. However, the project is still in progress.

In November 2021, the Bihar cabinet cleared the transfer of 200 acres of land for the project out of the total 227 acres that comes under DMCH. The state government earlier decided to allot 200 acres of DMCH land for the construction of Bihar’s second AIIMS, of which it transferred 81 acres to the Centre in September last year.

Also read- Bihar: Center Approves Rs 1361 Crore For AIIMS Darbhanga