Patna: The state cabinet, chaired by chief minister Samrat Choudhary on Wednesday, approved a proposal to run 16 existing and upcoming medical and dental college and hospitals under the public-private partnership (PPP) mode.The cabinet also sanctioned Rs3.30 crore for the operational cost of the first phase of heli-tourism for the identified period from July 2026 to Jan 2027. It also approved the creation of 218 posts in various departments. In all, 17 proposals were cleared.Cabinet secretariat department additional chief secretary Arwind Kumar Choudhary said the cabinet approved issuing a letter of agreement (LoA) to PricewaterhouseCoopers Private Limited (PwC), which was selected through a tendering process. Under the agreement, PwC will act as the transaction adviser for the 16 medical and dental colleges and hospitals. The cabinet also gave administrative sanction for releasing Rs8.27 crore to the firm.Of the 16 institutions, construction of Pawapuri, Madhepura, Purnia and Rahui have been completed and are functional. Work is in progress at the remaining 12, located in Samastipur, Chapra (Saran), Madhubani, Vaishali, Bhojpur, Buxar, Siwan, Begusarai, Sitamarhi, Jamui, Munger and Supaul.The cabinet sanctioned Rs6.12 crore for organising a ‘Tiranga’ campaign in the state. The campaign will include concerts on Vande Mataram and patriotism, exhibitions, rallies and yatras, selfie points, lighting arrangements, rangoli, cultural programmes, group singing, tricolour illumination of govt buildings and mass-awareness programmes.It also sanctioned Rs6.23 crore for digitising manuscripts under the Centre’s Gyan Bharatam Mission and Rs25 crore for establishing a Sports Science Centre to provide specialised knowledge beyond traditional training for high-level sports performance.The cabinet approved Rs192.22 crore and Rs177.72 crore for water-supply infrastructure in Jamalpur and Munger, respectively.It also approved the transfer of 43.88 acres in Rajauli circle of Nawada district for infrastructure for the Bihar Industrial Security Force (BISF) and five acres in Piprakothi circle of East Champaran for a new Kendriya Vidyalaya.The cabinet approved 27 posts for district and additional district and sessions judges’ courts in Purnia, Bhagalpur and Gaya. It also sanctioned 171 posts for 19 special courts under the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989.Six posts were approved for the State Health Sciences University, Patna, to strengthen its administrative functioning.
