Jharkhand High Court on Monday observed that it was unfortunate that the outpatient department of newly established AIIMS in Deoghar has not been started adding that the court would like to know as to why the OPD can’t be made operational without a formal inauguration.
Justice Rajesh Shankar made the above oral observation while hearing a petition filed by the Jharkhand Government to start OPD service at the earliest.
During the virtual hearing the Court issued notices to the Union ministry of Health & Family Affairs and AIIMS and asked to explain the delay in the health service at AIIMS. The Court fixed August 26 as the next date of hearing.
The State Government moved to Court after the Union Health Ministry postponed the virtual inauguration of the OPD unavoidable circumstances which was scheduled on June 25. The Ministry postponed inauguration 24 hours before the schedule.
Jharkhand Advocate General Rajiv Ranjan informed that the State Government moved before the court as it was a matter of public health. He said that both the Jharkhand Chief Minister and the Union Health Minister had given their consent for the virtual inauguration. But the Ministry postponed the programme
Amid the raising controversy between the Jharkhand government and the BJP’s Godda MP Nishikant Dubey; the ministry postponed inauguration programme
The then union health minister Dr Harsh Vardhan was scheduled to inaugurate the OPD of the newly constructed AIIMS through virtual mode. While Deoghar district administration had made all arrangements for the inauguration it categorically denied Godda MP who wanted to physically attend the programme. The district administration cited Covid 19 protocol stating that the window of participation in the programme through virtual mode is always open.
However, this could have been only a formal inauguration as the AIIMS-Deoghar had set-up OPD at a community health centre that started working from mid of March this year. The OPD functions twice a week on Mondays and Fridays from 10am to 2pm.
But the incident added fuel to ongoing controversy between Godda MP and Jharkhand government as well as chief minister Hemant Soren.
The denial cascaded into a controversy as Godda MP launched an attack on chief minister Hemant Soren stating that he will ensure that the inauguration is postponed.
Jharkhand was gifted with an AIIMS in the 2017-18 Union budget. Dubey had lobbied for AIIMS in his constituency and the state government identified a 236.92-acre plot at Devipur in Deoghar to set up the hospital. In May 2018, the Union cabinet approved about Rs 1,000 crore budget for the project after which Prime Minister Narendra Modi laid the foundation stone. AIIMS-Deoghar campus began inducting MBBS students in 2019 and as many as 50 students were enrolled in the first batch whereas in 2020 as many as 62 students were admitted.
