The Centre currently has no plans of setting up an All India Institute of Medical Science (AIIMS) at Raigunj in north Bengal, it is learnt.
This has put an end to speculations about enhanced healthcare facility in north Bengal in near future.
The proposal to build an AIIMS at Raigunj was taken during the tenure of the UPA-II government at the Centre. However, Congress leaders allege that chief minister Mamata Banerjee put a spanner in the proposal by not cooperating in getting required land for the hospital.
With an AIIMS being set up in south Bengal’s Kalyani, there cannot be any other AIIMS in the same state for the time being. Moreover, to get an AIIMS in another part of the state, there must be a proposal from the state government to the Union government.
After winning the elections Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) minister of state Debasree Choudhury, has been trying to get an AIIMS in her constituency Raigunj. However, her efforts may be in vain for the time being.
However, there are plans to upgrade the present medical colleges under Prime Minister Swasth Suraksha Yojana.
The medical colleges that will be upgraded are Kolkata Medical College, Bankura Sanmilani Medical College, Malda and North Bengal Medical colleges and Darjeeling Medical College. The Centre also has long-term plans to set up over 80 medical colleges in the country and out of these 10 are said to have been planned for West Bengal.
