Eight medical colleges granted to Bihar by Centre : HM

Patna: Eight new medical colleges have been awarded to Bihar by the centre in the past 4 years revealed the Health Minister Mangal Pandey on Thursday.

"The Centre gave consent for opening medical colleges in Purnea, Chhapra, and Samastipur," Pandey. "The tender process for setting up colleges in Purnea and Chhapra is underway and the state government is looking for suitable land to set up a medical college at Samastipur," he added.

The Minister said the state is required to provide at least 25 acres of well-connected land with all facilities for opening a medical college. The state health minister further spoke of the Centre giving permission for opening of five more medical colleges in Bihar and provision for the same having been made in the Union budget of 2018-19. He said the state government was in the process of identifying the places where these colleges have to be set up.

The state government is also planning to start new medical colleges at Jhanjharpur, Vaishali, Begusarai, Bhojpur, and Sitamarhi under seven resolves taken by it and land for Begusarai, Jhanjharpur, and Bhojpur medical colleges had been identified. The Minister said that two medical colleges for which the Centre had consented in the current year’s budget might be constructed at places identified under the seven resolves.

"I can say that Bihar is set to get 11 to 12 new medical colleges because of initiatives taken by the central and state governments," said Pandey.

He also revealed comparative figures reflected in the health sector predicting positive changes.

"The maternal mortality rate stood at 312 in 2005-06 and has now come down to 208. Similarly, the infant mortality rate was 61 in 2005-06 and had now come down to 38," Pandey said.

He said at the end of 2018-19, Bihar would become one of the top five states in terms of immunization of infants as the state was set to cross 90 percent coverage by then. Presently the immunization rate is 84 percent, a great leap from just 32.5 percent in 2005-06.

"While 16 districts of Bihar are being covered by the Centre-sponsored Indradhanush programme for immunization, the remaining 22 districts are being covered by the chief minister's immunization programme," he said.

The health minister gave details of new facilities being introduced in the existing medical colleges and hospital in the state and also in the district hospitals reported the Telegraph.