Bihar government signs MoU for super speciality eye hospital in Patna

Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and Managing Director of Sankara Eye Foundation India, Coimbatore, Dr. R.V. Ramani after signing the MoU. 
| Photo Credit: Special Arrangement

Bihar government on Friday (December 13, 2024) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Sankara Eye Foundation India, Coimbatore in Samvad located at Chief Minister Secretariat in presence of Chief Minister Nitish Kumar. The MoU was signed for the construction and operation of a super speciality eye hospital in Patna.

Health Department secretary Sanjay Kumar Singh and Managing Director of Sankara Eye Foundation India, Coimbatore, Dr. R.V. Ramani signed the MoU and handed over a copy to each other.

The Bihar cabinet has already granted approval on December 3, to give 1.60 acres of land in Kankarbagh locality of Patna on conditional lease at a token amount of ₹1 to Sankara Eye Foundation India, Coimbatore for building a super speciality eye hospital.

Sankara Eye Foundation India is an internationally renowned hospital for eye treatment which will build and run the hospital at its own expense. Along with general eye treatment, complex surgery like corneaplasty, retinal detachment, and eye cancer can also be treated. 75% of the patients will be treated for free and 25% will be paid. Families with an income of less than ₹2.5 lakh per year will be able to get free treatment.

Reacting to the MoU, Mr. Pandey said, “Now, the people of Bihar need not to visit outside Bihar for the treatment of any disease related to eyes. This hospital would become functional after one and half years. Chief Minister Nitish Kumar ji has given a big gift to the people of Bihar. I also want to thank Prime Minister Narendra Modi ji who had publicly urged in Varanasi as well as Darbhanga also.”

During the programme, Development Commissioner cum Additional Chief Secretary of Health Department, Pratyaya Amrit welcomed the Chief Minister by presenting a green plant.

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On this occasion, Deputy Chief Minister Samrat Choudhary, Water Resources cum Parliamentary Affairs Minister Vijay Kumar Chaudhary, Health Minister Mangal Pandey, and Principal Secretary to the Chief Minister Deepak Kumar were present.

Ironically, last month, the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) Audit Report on Public Health Infrastructure and Management of Health Services, 2016-2022 was presented to the Bihar Legislative Assembly and Bihar Legislative Council during the winter session which highlighted the poor performance of Bihar government.

According to the report, out of budget provisions of ₹69,790.83 crore made during FYs 2016-17 to 2021-22, Bihar spent only ₹48,047.79 crore (69%), leading to non-utilisations of ₹21,743.04 crore (31%). Percentage of expenditure on healthcare against the Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP) ranged between 1.33 and 1.73%, whereas against the Budget of the State, it ranged between 3.31 and 4.41%.

The audit report had also found shortage of the drugs/medicines, equipment, and other consumables.