Raju Bista demands AIIMS in Siliguri for North Bengal’s healthcare needs

Darjeeling MP and BJP National Spokesperson Raju Bista today raised the demand for the establishment of an All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) in Siliguri during a session in Parliament. Highlighting the urgent healthcare challenges faced by the people of North Bengal, Bista emphasized that the region's government hospitals suffer from a severe shortage of doctors, nurses and basic medical infrastructure leaving millions without adequate healthcare access.

Bista informed the House that the northern districts of Darjeeling, Kalimpong, Alipurduars, Jalpaiguri, Cooch Behar, North Dinajpur, South Dinajpur and Malda collectively house around 3 crore people. Most of them, he noted, are dependent on tea gardens, cinchona plantations, or agriculture for their livelihoods and cannot afford treatment in private hospitals. He also criticized the West Bengal government for not implementing the Ayushman Bharat scheme, which, he said, has left the most marginalized communities without financial support for essential healthcare services.

Stressing the need for AIIMS in Siliguri, Bista said that the city is strategically located, well-connected by air, rail and road networks and already serves as a medical hub for people across North Bengal. He said that establishing AIIMS in Siliguri would not only benefit the region’s residents but also patients from eastern Bihar, parts of Sikkim and lower Assam, significantly easing the burden on existing medical facilities.

Bista said that setting up AIIMS in Siliguri would be a transformative step toward providing quality and affordable healthcare to millions in North Bengal and its surrounding regions.