Bihar: Land for a 2nd AIIMS yet to be provided by state government

New Delhi: The centre’s initiative to provide one more AIIMS to Bihar, two years ago, to improve the healthcare infrastructure of the state and its promised cooperation in strengthening healthcare facilities,continues to remain an unfulfilled promise, as the state has yet to provide land for the project, despite the centre’s constant reminders at intervals.

The latest development on this front is the state government asking the centre to choose an area for setting up of an AIIMS like institution in the state.

“We are writing repeatedly to them. In the recent letter that we got from the state, it indicated that we finalize a piece of land for them. Identification of the land is state’s responsibility. The state government is required to offer four alternative suitable pieces of land with required parameters but they are ignoring it. The minister has written to the Bihar CM and many letters have been sent to the principal secretary health yet there is no response,” said a senior health ministry official.

It was Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, who had announced the opening of a second AIIMS for Bihar, in his 2015-2016 Budget speech. However, the project is yet to take off.

According to the centre’s directive, the Bihar government was to provide a 200 acre plot for the project, with linked infrastructure, sufficient water supply, electricity connection of required load,regulatory/statutory clearances, and a four-lane road connectivity to highways reports The Asian.

The Health Ministry in a fresh notification has again asked the state to come up with a site, as it is not the job of the centre to finalize land allotment.

“The state government can identify 3-4 sites keeping in view the aspects that may be kept in view so that only such sites are offered that would fair well against different parameters,” the recent Ministry letter added.