DARBHANGA, May 15 -- Bihar chief minister Samrat Choudhary on Thursday chaired a high-level review meeting at Darbhanga airport to assess the progress of the redevelopment of Darbhanga Medical College and Hospital (DMCH) and the construction of All India Institute of Medical Sciences Darbhanga (AIIMS-Darbhanga). During the meeting, AIIMS-Darbhanga deputy director Rajneesh Mishra made a detailed presentation on the status of the under-construction institute. He apprised the chief minister about land acquisition, civil works, site planning, road connectivity and widening, the proposed ring embankment near the AIIMS campus, drinking water supply and electricity connectivity. Health department secretary Kumar Ravi also gave a presentation on the redevelopment of DMCH and informed the chief minister about the ongoing work under the project. He said DMCH currently admits 250 MBBS students and that the redevelopment of the 1,700-bed hospital is progressing rapidly. Local public representatives also placed their views before Choudhary regarding both the DMCH redevelopment and the AIIMS project. Choudhary directed officials to expedite the construction work at AIIMS-Darbhanga on a priority basis and ensure that any bottlenecks are resolved promptly. He also instructed authorities to accelerate the DMCH redevelopment work while maintaining quality standards. Choudhary stressed that patients should continue to receive proper medical facilities during simultaneous execution of DMCH renovation and AIIMS construction projects. He further said the state government aims to eliminate the "referral culture" in Bihar's healthcare system and called for the preparation of a standard operating procedure (SOP) to achieve this objective. He also directed officials to ensure that medical services at the Darbhanga Super Speciality Hospital are made easily accessible to patients. htc...