Prime Minister Narendra Modi, while virtually addressing the Bharatiya Janata Party’s Regional Panchayati Raj Council in West Bengal, stated on August 12, “From Guwahati in Assam, Kalyani in West Bengal, Deoghar in Jharkhand and Darbhanga in Bihar, new AIIMS centres have been opened as part of this planning so that people do not have to travel hundreds of kilometres for treatment.” [Emphasis added]
A video with the same claim has also been tweeted by Prime Minister Narendra Modi from his official Twitter handle.
A glimpse of how India’s eastern part is changing and empowering lives. pic.twitter.com/tK7QSTHaIo
— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) August 12, 2023
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Fact check
We performed a keyword search on Google with filters, which led us to a Press Information Bureau press release dated February 2, 2021. It contains a written reply given by Ashwini Kumar Choubey, Union minister of state for health and family welfare, in response to a question in the Rajya Sabha. It is written that under the Pradhan Mantri Swasthya Suraksha Yojana (PMSSY), the establishment of 22 new AIIMS has been approved. This includes 10 AIIMS approved in 2017-18 or later. Out of the approved AIIMS, six (Bhopal, Bhubaneswar, Jodhpur, Patna, Raipur and Rishikesh) are functional at present. The construction work of the remaining 16 new AIIMS is going on. In this press release, the approval date of AIIMS in Darbhanga, Bihar is mentioned as September 15, 2020.
An update on the establishment of institutions like AIIMS was issued by the Union health ministry on July 22, 2022. It mentions the four AIIMS mentioned by Prime Minister Narendra Modi while addressing the Regional Panchayati Raj Council of the Bharatiya Janata Party in West Bengal. In addition, the progress made so far on the four AIIMS centres has been given, which clearly states that encroachment free land had not been made available for Darbhanga AIIMS at the time of writing, nor had any funds been released.
When Alt News checked the status of Darbhanga AIIMS on the website of the Pradhan Mantri Swasthya Suraksha Yojana under the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, we found that encroachment-free land had not been made available at the time of writing this fact-check report.
Following this statement of Prime Minister Modi, deputy chief minister of Bihar Tejashwi Yadav tweeted a letter dated June 22 contradicting the PM’s claim on Darbhanga AIIMS. It states that the government of Bihar approved Mauja-Ballia, Thana No. 0-120/02 of Bahadurpur circle under Darbhanga district for the establishment of AIIMS in Darbhanga. The proposal of 151 acres of land in Account No. 174 was sent to the Centre for approval and more than Rs. 250 crore was allocated for earth filling. But the Centre did not approve the proposal. That is, even on June 22, land was not approved for Darbhanga AIIMS. This confirms that the claim of an AIIMS opening in Darbhanga is false.
Responding to this tweet by Tejashwi Yadav, Union health minister Mansukh Mandaviya tweeted a letter dated May 26. It is written that on April 27, 2023, a team of officials of the ministry visited the Ekmi Shobhan Bypass, Aanchal-Bahadurpur, Mauza-Ballia, Thana No-120/2 site proposed by the government of Bihar for AIIMS Darbhanga. The post-visit report mentions some potential disadvantages in the proposed location. Keeping those points in mind, the Union health ministry ruled that the proposed site was not suitable for the establishment of AIIMS, Darbhanga. The ministry asked the Bihar government to provide another suitable area for setting up the facility.
प्रिय तेजस्वी जी,
Advertisementमोदी सरकार विकास में राजनीति नहीं करती बल्कि विकास की राजनीति करती है।
हमारी नीयत साफ़ है।
एम्स दरभंगा की अनुमति मोदी सरकार ने 19 सितंबर 2020 को दी थी और बिहार सरकार ने 3 नवंबर 2021 को पहली ज़मीन दी। https://t.co/ESOxhfeDp6 pic.twitter.com/kH0PiucDml
Advertisement— Dr Mansukh Mandaviya (@mansukhmandviya) August 12, 2023
In this tweet thread, Mandaviya also asked Bihar deputy chief minister Tejashwi Yadav to immediately provide a suitable location for the construction of the Darbhanga AIIMS. It is also clear from this tweet that the land for Darbhanga AIIMS has not been confirmed by the Centre at the time of writing of this article. That’s why Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s claim of AIIMS in Darbhanga being functional is false.
इसके बाद आप सरकार में आये और राजनीति करते हुए 30 अप्रैल 2023 को यह जगह बदल दी।
नियमों के अनुसार ज़मीन की जाँच करने के लिये एक्सपर्ट कमेटी ने ज़मीन को इंस्पेक्ट किया।
— Dr Mansukh Mandaviya (@mansukhmandviya) August 12, 2023
To sum it up, while addressing the Regional Panchayati Raj Council in West Bengal, Prime Minister Narendra Modi made a false claim regarding the opening of an AIIMS in Darbhanga, Bihar. In reality, the Centre has not even approved land provided by the Bihar government for the construction of the facility.
This article was originally published on Alt News and has been republished under a Creative Commons License.
