Bihar News: Nitish Government’s Reforms Transform Healthcare, PMCH Set to Become World’s Second Largest Hospital
Patna: Over the past two decades, Bihar has quietly rewritten its healthcare story. Under Chief Minister Nitish Kumar’s leadership, a state once infamous for dysfunctional hospitals and lack of basic medical care is now home to some of the most ambitious health infrastructure projects in the country.
Back in 2005, government hospitals in Bihar were in disrepair—basic facilities like X-rays or blood tests were missing, and public confidence in the system was near zero. In some cases, stray animals were found occupying hospital beds. All that began to change when Nitish Kumar took office and declared healthcare a top priority.
Since then, Bihar’s health budget has grown from just Rs 705 crore in 2004-05 to over Rs 20,000 crore in 2024-25—a nearly 28-fold jump. This funding has led to rapid improvements, including new hospitals, upgraded infrastructure, and free medicines across government health centres.
One of the flagship projects under the Patna Medical College and Hospital (PMCH), which is being expanded into a 5,462-bed hospital—set to become the largest in India and the second largest in the world by 2027. The first phase, with 1,117 beds, was inaugurated in May 2024.
The number of government medical colleges in Bihar has doubled from six to twelve, with 20 more under construction. Including private and central institutions, the state will soon have 44 medical colleges—dramatically increasing access to healthcare and medical education.
Primary Health Centres (PHCs), are now seeing over 11,000 patients per month, which were once barely visited,
Government hospitals offer over 500 medicines free of cost, and patient footfall is rising steadily.
These reforms have shown results. Bihar’s infant mortality rate has fallen from 60 per 1,000 births in 2005 to 27 today. The maternal mortality rate has dropped from 312 to 118. Full vaccination rates, once as low as 18%, now exceed 90%.
The state has also introduced schemes like the Chief Minister’s Medical Assistance Fund, which has provided over Rs 1,500 crore in aid to nearly two lakh poor patients needing treatment for serious diseases. Under Ayushman Bharat and the Mukhyamantri Jan Arogya Yojana, families are receiving up to Rs 5 lakh in free medical care annually.
In a special initiative, children with congenital diseases—like holes in the heart—are receiving free surgeries both in Bihar and in top hospitals in other states.
Bihar’s healthcare transformation is a sign of how political will and consistent policy can change lives, Bihar’s health system is now becoming one of the most promising public health models in India, which was once a broken and neglected area.