AIIMS Came To Patna, Next Should Be In Darbhanga: Nitish Kumar Amid Centre Vs Bihar Govt Standoff

Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar said that the first AIIMS came up in Patna and the next should be opened up in Darbhanga amid a standoff between Centre and Bihar government over this issue.

Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Monday said that the first AIIMS in the state came up in Patna now the second one should be made in Darbhanga. His remark came amid a standoff between his government and the Centre over opening up of All India Institute of Medical Sciences in Bihar’s Darbhanga. Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Tejashwi Yadav called Prime Minister Narendra Modi a "liar" over his remark on AIIMS Darbhanga claiming that no such institute has opened in the district. 

He also claimed that it was CM Nitish Kumar who had taken an initiative for the AIIMS Darbhanga, “but the Centre threw a spanner by claiming the location of the land was not convenient.” 

Responding to Yadav’s allegation, Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya said that the permission for the medical institute was granted by the Modi government in 2020 and the first land was given by Bihar government in 2021. "After this, you came to the government and changed this place on April 30, 2023 while doing politics," he further wrote in a series of posts.

Speaking to the reporters in Patna on the issue on Monday, Bihar CM said, “First AIIMS (of Bihar) was made in Patna, now we want the second to be made in Darbhanga."

“Earlier six medical colleges were there and now the count has risen to 11...We are making efforts in this direction. There is no need to worry,” he added. 

Reacting to the entire episode of barb trade over AIIMS Darbhanga, former Bihar Deputy Chief Minister and Bharatiya Janata Party leader Sushil Kumar Modi said, "Bihar CM doesn't want that an AIIMS should be made in Darbhanga. The proposed land for the hospital wasn't found suitable by a team sent by the Centre."

The row stemmed from PM Modi’s address via video conference to the Panchayati Raj Parishad in West Bengal. He made a mention of the proposed hospital while highlighting that premier health centres were set up in all parts of the country to ensure that people did not have to travel long distances for medical treatment.