J’khand govt moves HC for early opening of OPD at AIIMS Deoghar

RANCHI: The Hemant Soren government has moved the Jharkhand high court (HC) with a plea to make the out-patient department (OPD) at the newly set-up All India Institute Of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) in Deoghar district operational at the earliest.

The AIIMS-OPD was earlier scheduled to be virtually inaugurated on June 26 last. However, the event was cancelled days before the scheduled date by the Union health ministry due to “unavoidable circumstances”.

Jharkhand advocate general Rajiv Ranjan said the state government has filed the plea, as it was a matter of public health. The HC after hearing the matter on Monday issued a notice to the Centre and AIIMS, seeking their reply on the issue, Ranjan said.

Seeking replies from the Centre and AIIMS, the HC has listed the matter for hearing on August 26. “Both the chief minister and the Union health minister had given their consent for the virtual inauguration. However, it was cancelled by the health ministry due to certain reasons. We are of the view that the OPD can be made functional even without a formal inauguration. Opening it will benefit the locals,” said Ranjan.

The virtual inauguration and cancellation of the event last month had stirred a controversy, with the ruling JMM and the opposition BJP blaming each other for postponing the inauguration.

BJP’s Nishikant Dubey, who is the member of Parliament from Godda, under which AIIMS-Deoghar is located, had earlier accused the district administration of deliberately trying to keep him away from the inauguration event and he was insisting for his physical presence for the event at the hospital.

However, citing Covid-19 protocols, the district administration was holding a virtual event, inviting elected representatives through virtual links. The event was, however, later cancelled by Union health ministry.