Caught in a BJP-Mahagathbandan tussle, an AIIMS project languishes in Bihar

Tejashwi claimed the state government had allotted 151 acres of greenfield land for the project and the state Cabinet had also approved Rs 300 crore for landfilling. “We engage in constructive and development-oriented politics … It is unfortunate that the Centre has not approved the project,” said Yadav, who also holds the health portfolio.

For the Union government, a swift response came from Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya who asked why the Mahagathbandan government had changed the site of the proposed AIIMS in April. The following month, the health ministry rejected the new plot of land saying it was a low-lying area and there were chances of waterlogging. But the state government insisted on it because of its proximity to the national highway and Darbhanga airport.

“The Modi government does not do politics in matters of development but does development politics. Our intention is clear,” Mandaviya said, reminding Tejashwi that the Bihar government had given land for the site first on November 3, 2021, after the Modi government sanctioned the project on September 19, 2020, at an estimated cost of Rs 1,264 crore under the Pradhan Mantri Swasthya Suraksha Yojana. “As per the rule, the expert committee inspected the second site and did not find it suitable. I want to know why the land site was changed and for whom?” asked the Union minister.

Last year, the Magathbandan government came to power after Nitish broke away from the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) and joined hands with the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) of Tejashwi Yadav and other Opposition parties. With this, the future of the AIIMS project was then thrown into doubt as 15 JD(U) MPs proposed to the Centre that the AIIMS be built in Saharsa instead of catering to the Kosi region as Darbhanga already had a Darbhanga Medical College and Hospital (DMCH) funded by the state administration. RJD leader Bhola Yadav, meanwhile, proposed the site of the defunct Ashok Paper Mills in Hayaghat, Darbhanga, for the hospital.

On April 30, the state government changed the project site to 151 acres of greenfield land near Sobhan Bypass in Darbhanga. Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan wrote to Bihar Additional Chief Secretary (Health) Pratyaya Amrit on May 26 rejecting it. “The proposed land is a low-lying area (about 7 m down from the approach road) … The challenge is to fill and compact the total area (approx 151 acres) with good soil for construction. This might demand a huge quantity of soil that may not be readily available in and around Darbhanga. This can lead to high project costs.”

Bhushan said the “compaction and uniformity of the filled material at the proposed site” had “swelling and shrinkage characteristics” and that it may “cause instabilities” in construction. “The need may arise to propose a ground improvement technique once the land is done as the underlying soil has poor engineering characteristics, especially cotton soil. This might further raise the project cost,” he said, asking the state government to send a fresh land proposal for the project.

Rajya Sabha MP and former Deputy CM Sushil Kumar Modi of the BJP blamed CM Nitish Kumar for the impasse. “The Centre made an exception by agreeing to give a second AIIMS to Bihar, UP, and the then state of Jammu and Kashmir as against the standard rule of a state getting one AIIMS. Nitish Kumar initially tried his best his case for upgrading DMCH. But it was against the Centre’s policy of building AIIMS in a greenfield area and not in any existing set-up,” Modi said, adding that the state government could only find 81 acres of land at DMCH and could not remove encroachments to get more land.

Modi added, “After Nitish Kumar switched sides, he decided to choose another site that was rejected by a technical committee. Nitish Kunar was never keen on pushing the project as it would mean more credit to PM Narendra Modi, something he has always abhorred.”

Senior JD(U) leader and Water Resources Minister Sanjay Kumar Jha said, “The Centre’s rejection of the Darbhanga AIIMS site near the national highway does not sound convincing at all as most of Mithilanchal areas are waterlogged and have good construction. Darbhanga engineering college is also in the same waterlogged area. It is nothing but a ploy to further delay the Darbhanga AIIMS project.”