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Union health minister inaugurates Deoghar AIIMS OPD
Chief Minister Hemant Soren was also invited to the virtual inauguration. However, he skipped the event and state tourism minister Hafizul Hassan, also an MLA from Deoghar district attended the event on his behalf at the AIIMS campus.
The much-awaited outpatient department (OPD) at the newly established AIIMS in Deoghar was inaugurated on Tuesday by the Union health minister Mansukh Mandaviya, two months after the scheduled opening was cancelled on June 26 following a showdown between the state administration and the local BJP parliamentarian Nishikant Dubey.
On Tuesday, the Union health minister inaugurated the OPD virtually from New Delhi while the local MP, the local MLA and other dignitaries were present at the AIIMS campus for the occasion. The Union health minister also inaugurated a night shelter at the facility for the patients and attendants.
Chief Minister Hemant Soren was also invited to the virtual inauguration. However, he skipped the event and state tourism minister Hafizul Hassan, also an MLA from Deoghar district attended the event on his behalf at the AIIMS campus.
State health minister Banna Gupta also attended the inauguration event virtually. The inauguration came as a big relief for the locals as the facility would bring quality healthcare in the temple town as the controversy surrounding its opening had even reached the Jharkhand High Court after the Hemant Soren government had filed a petition seeking for the OPD to be made operational at the earliest. The court had fixed the next date of hearing on August 26.
Addressing the event, the Union health minister said the Narendra Modi government was working in boosting health care facilities across the country. “I am pleased to inaugurate the OPD services and night shelter in temple town Deoghar. The Prime Minister had laid the foundation of this hospital in May 2018. While the OPD would provide health service to the locals, people coming from far off places would have the option of staying back in the night shelter,” he said.
The AIIMS campus is coming up in the Devipur area on the outskirts of the temple town. With the inauguration of the OPD services, around 200 patients would be able to avail the services of a dozen specialist doctors of different medical departments every day. A 15-bed daycare facility has been set up for the patients coming to the OPD for treatment at the 4-room complex set up at the institute. Around 20 kinds of pathological test facilities have been arranged at the centre, officials said.
Earlier, speaking on the occasion, Member of Parliament Nishikant Dubey hit out at the district administration for not completing some critical aspects of the project. “Installing big cutouts would not be enough. The DC should explain why there has been a delay in the land acquisition and widening of the road near the institute,” Dubey said in his short speech.
State tourism minister Hafizul Hassan reminded the contribution made by the state government that has provided land for the institute and also suggested the Centre increase fund allocation as done for AIIMS in other states.
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