Bihar Health Minister Nishant Kumar at Public Grievance Hearing in JD(U) office in Patna on July 1, 2026. Photo: Aftab Alam Siddiqui
By A Correspondent
Patna: Bihar Health Minister Nishant Kumar on Wednesday said the government’s priority was to ensure that patients received timely and quality treatment at their nearest health centres, while announcing CCTV surveillance and a centralised monitoring system for all government hospitals to improve transparency and accountability.
At a public grievance hearing held at the JD(U) state office in Patna, the minister interacted directly with a large number of complainants from across Bihar and heard their grievances. He instructed the concerned officials over the telephone to ensure the lawful and prompt disposal of the applications received.
Transport Minister Damodar Rawat also heard cases related to his department and initiated measures for their early resolution. Chief Whip of the ruling party in the Legislative Council Sanjay Kumar Singh, popularly known as Gandhi Ji, was also present.
Speaking to reporters, Nishant Kumar said the Health Department was working to strengthen healthcare services across the state so that patients would only need to travel to Patna in cases requiring specialised treatment. He said CCTV cameras would be installed in all government hospitals to enhance security and transparency. A dedicated software platform was also being developed to enable him to monitor hospitals directly from a command and control centre. He added that he would conduct surprise inspections and regularly deploy teams for field monitoring.
The minister said absenteeism among doctors, nurses and paramedical staff remained one of the department’s biggest challenges and that stringent measures were being taken to address the issue.
He said the government planned to provide 504 categories of medicines free of cost in government hospitals. At present, 350 medicines were already available to patients, while work was underway to procure the remaining medicines. Stressing that there would be no compromise on quality, he said officials had been directed to conduct random testing of medicines.
Nishant Kumar further said the government was ensuring the availability of essential medical equipment and trained technicians in hospitals. Efforts were also underway to deploy ambulances at toll plazas along national highways so that road accident victims could receive treatment within the “golden hour”, significantly improving their chances of survival.
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