In a landmark development towards strengthening Bihar’s tertiary healthcare infrastructure and services, Prime Minister (PM) Narendra Modi laid the foundation stone of All India Institutes of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) Darbhanga in Darbhanga, Bihar. AIIMS Darbhanga will be the second AIIMS in Bihar after AIIMS Patna.

AIIMS Darbhanga is being established at a cost of Rs 1264 crore on 187 acre land located at Ekmi-Shobhan bypass in Darbhanga. It will have 750 bedded super-specialty Hospital/AYUSH block, Medical College with 125 seats, Nursing College with 60 seats, a night shelter for patients and their attendants, residential facilities for doctors, students and staff etc.

AIIMS Darbhanga will provide state-of-the-art affordable world class tertiary healthcare facilities to the people of Bihar including nearby districts of Muzaffarpur, Samastipur, Sitamadhi, Madhubani, Saharsa, Purnia, Khagadia, Katihar etc. and also to the people of nearby districts of West Bengal and Eastern Uttar Pradesh.

Prime Minister observed that many diseases could be less severe if detected early, but the high cost of diagnostics had often prevented people from seeking timely medical attention. To address this, he noted the establishment of over 1.5 lakh Ayushman Arogya Mandirs across the country, which will assist in the early detection of illnesses. He also mentioned that over 4 crore patients had been treated under the Ayushman Bharat scheme, pointing out that without this programme, many patients might have been unable to afford hospital care. Prime Minister stated that the Ayushman Bharat Scheme had alleviated the financial burden for many poor families, with approximately Rs 1.25 lakh crore saved by millions of households.