AIIMS Darbhanga Campus Gets Central Approval, says Bihar CM Nitish Kumar
Patna: Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar made a significant announcement on Monday, revealing that the Centre has granted its approval for the construction of the AIIMS-Darbhanga campus in Sobhan village, Darbhanga.
The Centre has reportedly directed the Bihar government to raise the height of the proposed land at Sobhan, indicating concerns over the site's suitability for the construction of the AIIMS-Darbhanga campus. This directive follows earlier statements by Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya, who raised objections to the initially selected land, claiming it was not ideal for establishing the premier healthcare institution.
The announcement came as a pivotal moment during a ceremony where the Chief Minister laid the foundation stones for a state-of-the-art 2,100-bed hospital and an academic building on the campus of the Darbhanga Medical College Hospital (DMCH) at Laheriasarai in Darbhanga district.
The event marked a significant stride in the Rs 2,742 crore re-development plan for the DMCH, aimed at expanding the medical college's infrastructure to accommodate up to 250 MBBS students annually. Nitish Kumar, addressing the media at Laheriasarai, shared the information stating that the Centre has given its approval for the long-awaited AIIMS-Darbhanga project which has a crucial role in advancing healthcare services and medical education in the state.
The CM further instructed the officials to initiate and expedite the construction of all those buildings for which he laid foundation stones on Monday. “When the construction work begins, I will again visit here to inspect the ongoing works. People will have great convenience in treatment, once the construction work is completed,” Nitish told Times of India.
The chief minister also laid the foundation stone for the construction of a 400-bed surgical block at Rajkiya Maharani Rameshwari Bhartiya Chikitsa Vigyan Sansthan, Mohanpur, which is expected to have a budget of Rs 194 crore. Nitish requested that the hospital administration make sure that there isn't any waterlogging on the DMCH site during the rainy season when he was examining the facility. “Drainage system should be planned in such a way that there should be no problem of waterlogging in the rainy season,” Nitish told the officials.
While responding to a query, the CM stated that the DMCH already has a 400-bed hospital that is operational. The 2,100-bed hospital will be transformed into a 2,500-bed facility once it is ready. According to him, this will result in an increase in the number of MBBS admissions. Last year Medical Dialogues reported that when the Centre decided to construct AIIMS in Darbhanga in 2015, the state government provided land near Darbhanga Medical College and Hospital (DMCH) and DMCH should be covered in AIIMS. However, Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya alleged that the land provided by the state government is not suitable for the construction of the premier hospital.
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