Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, while announcing the Union Budget 2017 today, mentioned that two new AIIMS (All India Institute of Medical Sciences) will be established in Gujarat and Jharkhand. Giving a boost to the ailing healthcare sector in Jharkhand, this move was lauded during the budget. The Finance Minister also announced 5,000 new Post Graduate seats in medical colleges across the country. This could address the lack of super-specialty doctors in the country, thereby improving the overall healthcare sector in the country.

PaGaLGuY spoke to the Registrar of Jharkhand Medical Council, A.K. Singh, who informed that the union government has already earmarked some places for the proposed AIIMS in the state. “Hazaribag, Dumka and Daltanganj are some of the places that are under consideration for the institute to come up. Setting up of AIIMS in a state like Jharkhand will be a huge boost to the already ailing healthcare sector,” said Singh.

Talking about the state of medical education in the state, he further mentioned that it would address the lack of colleges in the state as well. “There are 3 government colleges in the entire state presently and no such private medical college to offer medical education. Bright students from the state have to move to other states to pursue their higher education. The announcement of AIIMS will boost their confidence and allow them to study in their own state,” pointed out Singh.

However, he was quick enough to point out that the increased PG seats (5,000) in the country overall, might not benefit the state. “Although AIIMS might start MBBS courses soon, it will be another 4-5 years before postgraduate courses begin in the institute. There has to be a certain infrastructure and manpower developed in any institute before beginning the coursework,” said Singh.