New deadline set for two Bihar hospitals

THE PROGRESS OF PROPOSED AIIMS AT DARBHANGA WAS ALSO REVIEWED IN MEETING

DARBHANGA: Union Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare (MoSHFW) Shri Ashwini Kumar Choubey has set a fresh deadline for the completion of construction work of super specialty hospitals at Darbhanga Medical College and Hospital (DMCH, Darbhanga) and Shri Krishna Medical College Hospital (SKMCH, Muzaffarpur) respectively. The minister said the progress of proposed AIIMS at Darbhanga was also reviewed in the meeting.

Meanwhile, BJP leader and Darbhanga MP Gopal Jee Thakur, who attended the review meeting chaired by the minister along with officials of construction firm, said that as per the revised deadline of June 30, the OPD in the two super speciality hospitals would become functional by the first week of July. The previous deadline to complete the work by May could not be materialised due to Covid-19 lockdown, Thakur said.

The MP also informed that the preliminary project report of Bihar’s second AIIMS proposed to be constructed at Darbhanga has been already prepared. “Darbhanga AIIMS, with a capacity of 750 beds, would be constructed with an estimated expenditure of Rs 1,361 crore”, the MP said.

The 210-bed hospital construction had commenced in December 2016. The original deadline for completing the project in 18 months, has been revised and extended several times.

Officials, however, attributed the delay to poor execution of work by contractor. The Centre sanctioned Rs 120 crore and the state government was supposed to sanction Rs 30 crore as its share for completion of the super speciality hospital.