In a major reform aimed at enhancing transparency and efficiency, the Bihar health department has rolled out a fully digital, time-bound system for granting approvals to new nursing institutions and those seeking to upgrade nursing courses, effective April 1.
Announcing the move, health secretary Lokesh Kumar Singh said that applications for opening new nursing colleges will now be processed within one month of inspection, provided institutions meet all norms set by the Indian Nursing Council.
The revamped system replaces the earlier manual process, under which applications often remained pending for years. Currently, around 200 applications — some over three years old — are awaiting clearance.
Under the new framework, the letter of permission (LoP) will be issued within six weeks of submitting an online application, following which institutions will be given 12 months — an increase from the earlier nine months — to complete the required infrastructure, said Singh.
“Once the infrastructure is ready, an applicant will have to apply for inspection. An inspection team will be randomly assigned within seven days from a digital pool of 50-70 inspectors, and the inspection process will be completed within one month of applying for it. If the institution meets all prescribed norms of the Indian Nursing Council, the no objection certificate (NOC) will be granted within two months of applying for inspection,” said Singh.
Delays in approvals had drawn criticism in the Bihar Legislative Council in February this year, with opposition members flagging prolonged pendency. Health minister Mangal Pandey had assured the house that a streamlined mechanism was being developed.
On Wednesday, Pandey formally launched the system by distributing affiliation certificates — issued through the new digital platform — to representatives of three ANM (auxiliary nursing midwifery), one GNM (general nursing midwifery) and one B.Sc nursing institution at a function held at Urja auditorium in Patna.
A significant reform addresses the earlier dual-authority system, where different officials handled LoP and NOC approvals. Now, a single official will oversee both stages, reducing ambiguity and ensuring accountability.
Singh noted that in the past, institutions often faced delays in securing NOCs even after investing in infrastructure post-LoP. “This bottleneck has now been eliminated,” he said.
While acknowledging initial resistance within the department, Singh said all existing nursing institutions will be brought onto the digital platform within one to three years, aligned with the validity of their NOCs.
The end-to-end digital system covers application submission, approvals, inspections, uploading geotagged photos and videos of inspection, accreditation, and issuance of certificates.
The reform is expected to strengthen transparency, traceability and quality assurance, while improving ease of doing business in the education sector and improving the quality of nursing education.
Bihar currently has 125 government nursing institutions with 7,538 seats and 531 private institutions offering 41,065 seats, reflecting the scale and growth of nursing education in the state.
