DMCH to add 2500 beds in big infra upgrade

Days after the Centre rejected the new site in Darbhanga district proposed by the Bihar government for establishing the state’s second All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), the state cabinet on Tuesday decided to upgrade the old Darbhanga Medical College and Hospital (DMCH) building on the lines of new infrastructure coming up at the Patna Medical College and Hospital (PMCH).

“The DMCH gets more patients than its capacity. The new building will have 2500 beds. Currently, a 400-bed hospital is under construction at a cost of ₹569 crore. The remaining 2,100 beds will be constructed along with the hospital building. The total cost of the entire project is estimated to be ₹2546.41 crore,” said additional chief secretary (cabinet) S Siddharth.

“The patients from the entire north Bihar as well as other districts of the adjoining state will be able to get convenient and proper treatment,” he said.

This was among the 12 agenda items discussed and approved at the state cabinet meeting chaired by chief minister Nitish Kumar on Tuesday.

Area development fund hiked by ₹1 cr

In another important decision, the cabinet amended the guidelines of CM Area Development Scheme (Mukhyamantri Kshetra Vikas Yojana). Now, every MLA can recommend schemes/works costing up to 4 crore every year in his constituency, against ₹3 crore earlier. From the financial year 2018-19, every MLA was entitled to recommend schemes costing up to ₹3 crore every year. But due to the increase in the construction material, the amount has been hiked by ₹1 crore from the financial year 2023-24, officials said.

The cabinet approved an amount of ₹318 crore for the purpose.

Department of technology renamed

The cabinet also decided to rename the science and technology department as the department of science, technology and technical education.