The demand for setting up the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) centre in Ranchi has gained momentum. State MPs in the past one week have placed their demand for setting up AIIMS campus in the State Capital by meeting Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya.

On Wednesday former Union Minister and Lohardaga MP Sudarshan Bhagat met Mandaviya and placed his demand for setting up AIIMS campus in Ranchi.

Bhagat informed the Health Minister that with the setting up of the AIIMS centre in Ranchi it will cater to the needs of the entire State.

Bhagat said people of state in absence of state-of-art medical facilities like AIIMS have no other option but to go to other states such as Vellore, Delhi, Hyderabad, Mumbai for treatment. He said that with setting up AIIMS like medical facilities it will check the influx of patients from State to other states. The former union minister also suggested that the Union Health Ministry can set up AIIMS at Itki TB sanatorium.

He said under the leadership of PM Narendra Modi, commendable initiatives are being taken to increase the medical facilities across the country. In this series, a welfare announcement was made to set up 13 AIIMS in different states across the country. For this purpose an AIIMS has been opened in Deoghar in Jharkhand.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi in May 2018 laid the foundation stone for the construction of the AIIMS regional center in Deoghar.The project is being funded under the Pradhan Mantri Swasthya Suraksha Yojana. The institute became operational with the first batch of 50 MBBS students, which started in September 2019, one of the six AIIMSs to become operational in 2019. Saurabh Varshney was appointed as director in March 2020 and NK Arora appointed president.

This year AIIMS, Deoghar began its outpatient department (OPD) services in the Devipur community health centre (CHC). Deoghar, Deputy Commissioner, Manjunath Bhajantri and AIIMS director Saurabh Varshney inaugurated the Dept at the CHC. Prior to Bhagat, Ranchi MP Sanjay Seth too had met Prime Minister Modi requesting him to set up another AIIMS in Jharkhand.

He said that in absence of better medical facilities in Jharkhand, patients from the State are left with no other options but to move to other states. With setting up AIIMS in Ranchi, the health hub will not only cater the demands of patients in Jharkhand, but patients from neighbouring states such as Bihar, West Bengal and Odisha too will get better medical treatment.  He said that presently there are only RIMS catering the medical needs of poor patients. Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his first tenure had gifted AIIMS centre at Deoghar, however, the Outpatient department (OPD) facilities are yet to start at the health hub.