Patna: State health minister Mangal Pandey informed the assembly on Monday that the govt is set to appoint 14,060 auxiliary nurse midwives (ANMs) in the next 15 days in various hospitals.Noting that new regular appointments of 7,468 ANMs have already been made earlier during the 2025-26 financial year, he said additional 14,060 ANMs — 9,054 regular and 5,006 under national health mission — would also be appointed.Pandey was giving the govt’s reply to the House debate on the budgetary demand of the health department worth Rs 21,270.41 crore for the 2026-27 fiscal, on which the cut motion had been moved by RJD member Rahul Kumar. The sum comprises the committed expenditure of Rs 11,237.64 crore and scheme expenditure to the tune of Rs 10,032.77 crore. The House passed the budget by voice vote, amid a walkout by the opposition members.The House was also informed that the number of operational govt medical college and hospitals has increased to 18, while nine others are under construction, and that in the next three years, their overall number would be 46.Pandey said under the Saat Nischay-3 programme for 2025-30, the primary health centres at the block level would be converted to specialty hospitals, and district\sadar hospitals to super specialty facilities.With respect to the achievements made on the parameters of sustainable development goals (SDG) defined under the UN charter, Pandey said infant mortality rate had come down to 18 per 1,000 live births, while death of children below five years of age to 27, besides a significant fall in the maternal mortality rate.“On many parameters the state has either bettered the national average or has been near the performance of the top four states,” Pandey said.He added the fertility rate of the state was 4.2 when the NDA govt was formed in 2005, but now it has come down to 2.8, which has helped in stabilising the rise in population. “To comply with the UN charter on SDG, we will further improve the situation by 2030, and this has been possible because the govt, under the leadership of CM Nitish Kumar, has taken necessary steps to improve the health services and care in the last 20 years,” said Pandey.He further said that even the Centre has noted Bihar as the number one state in terms of providing medicines to its hospitals in time and among the “top three states in vaccination”.“Bihar is the only state that is vaccinating girls and women against cervical cancer, while its paediatric intensive care unit at Shri Krishna Medical College Hospital, Muzaffarpur, has been recognised as a world-class facility. Also, the mental hospital at Koilwar is of national level,” he added.The govt is also working on introducing health services under Public Private Partnership mode. Besides, a policy is being framed to ban private practice by govt doctors and increase the salary of the doctors serving in remote rural areas, the assembly was told.
