At the ongoing budget session on Monday, the poor condition of government hospitals once again came under scrutiny in the Bihar Legislative Assembly, after BJP MLA Maithili Thakur questioned the state health minister over the state of a hospital in her constituency.
Thakur, during Question Hour, outlined that the building of the hospital in her area is crumbling and that under such conditions, it poses a threat to both patients and staff, besides a major accident occurring anytime.
Cracks, falling plaster put patients at risk, MLA tells House
Describing the situation on the ground, Thakur told the House that plaster frequently falls from the ceiling, deep cracks deface the walls, and rainwater leaks into wards during the monsoon. Yet, despite all this, people, including pregnant women and children, continue to receive treatment in the same building.
Thakur mentioned that the hospital is now operating out of a small room and doesn't have even a single MBBS doctor available. She pointed out that there used to be two MBBS doctors, but no such doctor is posted there presently.
“I am not completely satisfied with the answer... Because it is written that the building is not in a bad condition. It just needs to be repaired,” Thakur said. “But I want the minister to explain once again. Because I myself have seen that the building is in a bad condition. There is a health system running in a small room. There is no MBBS doctor. In the past, there were two MBBS doctors there. But not now.”
अपने विधानसभा क्षेत्र अंतर्गत तारडीह प्रखंड के कुरसों नदीयामी स्थित अतिरिक्त स्वास्थ्य केंद्र की गंभीर समस्याओं पर सदन में सरकार का ध्यान आकृष्ट कराया। जनस्वास्थ्य से कोई समझौता स्वीकार्य नहीं।क्षेत्र की जनता को बेहतर, सुलभ एवं गुणवत्तापूर्ण स्वास्थ्य सुविधाएँ दिलाना हमारी… pic.twitter.com/HhMRzDEF7S
— Maithili Thakur (@maithilithakur) February 6, 2026
Questioning Budget priorities
Thakur questioned why the physical structures of hospitals seem to come crumbling down even as the health budget increases every year. There is no secret that shortages of doctors and medicine exist, she said, but crumbling infrastructure is an even bigger threat because hospital buildings could literally fall without warning.
She asked whether the government was waiting for a major disaster to prompt hospital construction.
“I am not questioning the minister. I am just requesting him. Because I was very young. And since then, I have been seeing the health minister as a minister. I have been seeing him working on health. So I want him to solve this in the interest of the public”, she further said.
Minister responds, MLA seeks clarity again
Minister of Health, Mangal Pandey, responded by saying that the government is very serious about the infrastructure of hospitals. He said to the House that new infrastructures have been approved in many places, adding that the repair and renovation plan will be implemented in phases for the hospitals that are in a very dilapidated condition.
But Thakur intervened once again, pointing out that in her constituency, this hospital has been on this list for years, and nothing has ever been done to fix these hospitals or to actually start new ones.
The contention turned intense as the opposition MLAs supported her by thumping desks to register their support, which the Speaker had to take over to set things right.
