West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari has announced that the state government will send a proposal to the Centre to establish an AIIMS at Diknagar in Raiganj, while a full-fledged cancer hospital will be developed in Jalpaiguri. The announcements were made during an administrative meeting and a public service programme in Raiganj on Thursday.
The proposed AIIMS would be the second such institute in West Bengal, according to the chief minister. He said the state government had decided to send the proposal for the institute at Diknagar to the Union government. The announcement means that the project is currently at the proposal stage and will require further action before construction can begin.
Adhikari said that, once the process is completed, he would visit Diknagar for a foundation-stone ceremony along with the Union health minister. The report did not provide a project cost, construction timeline, proposed bed capacity or details of the land identified for the proposed medical institute.
The chief minister also announced plans for a full-fledged cancer hospital in Jalpaiguri. He said the government would not disappoint Jalpaiguri and would develop and upgrade the hospital. No timeline, funding arrangement, site details or implementation agency for the cancer hospital was provided in the report.
The announcements formed part of a broader set of administrative and infrastructure measures discussed for North Bengal. The state government said 30 programmes had been taken up during the administrative meeting, while the foundation stones for 83 programmes had been laid. Plans were also outlined to improve the infrastructure of hospitals in Uttar Dinajpur and establish smart schools.
The health-related measures mentioned during the programme included 10 trauma ambulances, pathology centres and arrangements linked to the Pradhan Mantri Jan Aushadhi and Amrit schemes. The chief minister said the government would change the appearance and condition of hospitals in the district, but the report did not specify the facilities covered, the investment involved or the schedule for the proposed upgrades.
The announcements are significant for a region where access to advanced medical treatment depends on the capacity and reach of public health institutions. However, the available details distinguish between commitments already associated with services such as ambulances and pathology centres, and the two larger hospital announcements, for which formal approvals, project reports and execution timelines have not yet been disclosed.
The chief minister also said that 7.9161 acres of land had been given to the Border Security Force in the Bangladesh-bordering district. He referred to the implementation of the Citizenship Amendment Act for refugees and made remarks about action against people he described as infiltrators. These comments were part of the wider address and were separate from the healthcare infrastructure announcements.
The next stated step for the AIIMS proposal is its submission to the Centre. Further details on approval, land, funding, design, capacity and construction schedules for both the Raiganj institute and the Jalpaiguri cancer hospital were not provided in the supplied report.
