Aiims: How politics behind Darbhanga AIIMS has delayed its construction | India News

NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s mention on Saturday of his government’s achievement in opening new AIIMS in Darbhanga brought into sharp focus the politics between the Centre and the Bihar government leading to the delay in its construction.

While addressing the Kshetriya Panchayati Raj Parishad in Kolkata for eastern India through video conference, Modi said everyone is witnessing the “fast pace of development” taking place in eastern India.
He said, “New AIIMSs have been opened from Guwahati in Assam to Kalyani in West Bengal and from Deoghar in Jharkhand to Darbhanga in Bihar for better health facilities, so that people do not have to travel hundreds of kilometres for treatment.”

The PM said Bihar, Jharkhand, West Bengal and Orissa have also got 31 medical colleges in the last nine years. In the Northeast also, the number of medical colleges has doubled.

Modi’s statement regarding AIIMS Darbhanga sparked an uproar in the ruling Mahagathbandhan camp of Bihar. They accused Modi of lying and said AIIMS, Darbhanga has not been built yet.
RJD leader and Bihar’s deputy chief minister Tejashwi Yadav, in a post on X, formerly Twitter, lashed out at the PM. He said, “The prime minister was taking the false credit today for opening AIIMS in Darbhanga. The fact is that the Bihar government has given 151 acres of land free of cost to the Centre for the establishment of AIIMS.”
He claimed that the Bihar government has also allocated more than Rs 250 crore for filling of earth. “But unfortunately, the Centre, while doing politics, did not approve the construction of the proposed AIIMS. The country at least expects truth and facts from the prime minister. But he told a blatant lie.”
Yadav attached a letter written to Union health minister Mansukh Mandaviya on June 22 in this regard.
Mandaviya was quick to respond to Yadav’s allegations. He posted a number of tweets. Refuting the Bihar deputy CM’s accusations, he said, “Dear Tejashwi ji, the Modi government does not do politics in development but does politics of development. Our intention is clear. The permission for AIIMS Darbhanga was given by the Modi government on September 19, 2020 and the first land was allotted by the Bihar government on November 3, 2021.”
The health minister went on to state that after this, Yadav came to power and alleged that he changed this place on April 30, while doing politics.
Mandaviya said according to the rules, an expert committee inspected the land. On May 26, the central government sent a letter to the Bihar government stating that the second land provided for the construction of AIIMS is not suitable.
The health minister said upfront, “You tell me, why was the land changed? In whose interest was it changed?”
He went on to take on Yadav. “What did your own MLA say in the Bihar legislative assembly about the unsuitable land given for AIIMS? Come out of politics and immediately give a suitable place for construction of AIIMS! We are ready to build AIIMS in Bihar.”

Mandaviya also attached a letter written by Union health secretary Rajesh Bhushan on May 26 to Bihar’s additional chief secretary Pratyaya Amrit stating that the land allotted by the Bihar government is not suitable for setting up AIIMS, Darbhanga.
The letter stated that a team of officials from the ministry was deputed to visit the proposed site on April 27. The team in its report stated that the proposed location has certain potential disadvantages, making the execution of the project on the site more complex.
It said the proposed land is in a low-lying area and will need earth filling of more than 10 metres. This can lead to high project costs and a time-consuming process, the letter stated.
It further said among other challenges, there might be a possibiity of water-logging in the surrounding low land areas if structures are built on filled up land. The resultant drainage issues at the site may be compounded as the surface layer of natural ground has a low permeability.
The health ministry said, “… This ministry is of the considered opinion that the proposed new site situated on the Ekmi Shobham Bypass, Anchal – Bahadurpur, Mouza – Balia, in Darbhanga is not suitable for setting up of AIIMS, Darbhanga”.
The health secretary finally said, “The state government is, therefore, again requested to kindly provide some other suitable land for setting up of new AIIMS in Darbhanga, Bihar so that implementation of the project can be taken up promptly in larger public interest.”
The ball appears to be in the Bihar government’s court. While politics over land continues, Darbhanga remains deprived of an AIIMS which has been approved by the Centre.