In a first in Bihar, FIR lodged against 66 cops including 3 DSPs in Vaishali district

Source: newindianexpress.com

PATNA: In a first such belated but bold move in Bihar, an FIR was lodged against 66 police officials including three deputy superintendents of police (DSPs) and 50 police inspectors on Monday evening in Hajipur town police station of Vaishali district.

According to police sources, Vaishali SP MS Dhillon passed an order to the SHO of Town PS to lodge the FIR against those cops when they didn’t hand over cases even after years of being transferred from the district.

All the accused cops have been transferred from this district to other places long ago with one of the three DSPs is now on deputation in the CBI. The DSPs who have been named as accused in the FIR are Nagendra Prasad, now on deputation in CBI, Pankaj Rawat, who is currently Sadar SDPO in Bettiah and Ashok Prasad at Patna.

To begin with, notices were served to them asking to hand over the charges of many criminal cases, which were being investigated by them at that time of their transfers. The FIR has been lodged under section 634 and 409 of IPC against all those 66 cops together on the charges of not handing over the cases to other cops even after years of being transferred.

Nearly 70 lakh affected in floods in Bihar, northeast India; toll mounts to 44

Source: indiatoday.in

he flood situation remained grim in parts of northeast and Bihar as the death toll mounted to 44 on Monday, with nearly 70 lakh people affected, even as north India witnessed widespread rainfall.

The national capital’s long wait for monsoon rains also ended on Monday as it received 28.8 mm precipitation, the maximum in July this year, and more rains are expected over the next two to three days.

In Assam, the deluge spread to 30 of the state’s 33 districts, affecting nearly 43 lakh people and claiming 15 lives, besides submerging rhino habitats the Kaziranga National Park, Pobitora Wildlife Sanctuary and the Manas National Park.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke to Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal over phone and discussed about the prevailing condition on Monday.

Altogether, 42.87 lakh people in 4,157 villages are reeling under the impact of the floods that have overrun 1,53,211 hectares of farm land with standing crops, the Assam State Disaster Management Authority (ASDMA) said.

The water level of the Brahmaputra rose above the danger level across the state.

The town of Bokakhat has been cut off from the rest of entire upper Assam due to the flood waters, the release said.

The death toll in the Bihar floods mounted to 24, with 25.66 lakh people reeling from the deluge in 12 districts of the state following incessant rains in neighbouring country Nepal.

Five more children drowned in two separate incidents in East Champaran district, but a senior official of the state disaster management department said they were not counted among the flood casualties.

With five rivers in spate, Chief Minister Nitish Kumar undertook his second aerial survey of the flood-hit areas during the day.

Of the 24 deaths reported till 6 pm on Monday, Sitamarhi accounted for 10 deaths, while nine were reported from Araria, four from Kishanganj and one from Sheohar, a Disaster Management Department report said.

Four deaths were reported till Sunday evening from Araria (2), Sheohar (1) and Kishanganj (1).

According to the Water Resources Department daily bulletin, five rivers– Baghmati, Kamla Balan, Lalbakeya, Adhwara and Mahananda– are flowing above danger level at various places in the state.

At least 1,000 families had to be evacuated in Lunglei district of Mizoram as raging waters of the Khawthlangtuipui river flooded 32 villages, while rain-related incidents led to the death of five people in the state, officials said.

At least 32 villages in the Tlabung area of south Mizoram’s Lunglei district were flooded by the river Khawthlangtuipui. Around 700 homes were submerged in the district and 800 families had to be shifted to safer places, the officials said.

Nearly 200 families were evacuated from central Mizoram’s Serchhip district, they said.

Several towns and villages remained inaccessible due to road blockades caused by landslides, while power supply and telecommunication services were also severely disrupted across the state, the officials said.

Incessant rains across Meghalaya for the last seven days and rising waters of two rivers flooded the plains of West Garo Hills district, affecting at least 1.14 lakh people.

A total of 57,700 people, residents of 50 villages in Demdema block and over 66,400, residents of 104 villages in Selsella block have been affected due to the floods, they said.

Rising waters of the Brahmaputra and the Jinjiram rivers, both flowing from Assam, submerged the low-lying areas of the district, an official said.

Meanwhile, the low-lying areas of the state’s capital city Shillong were also flooded.

However, the flood situation in Tripura showed signs of improvement as Khowai and Haora rivers started receding, officials said.

Personnel of the NDRF and security forces rescued a number of people in the flood-affected Khowai and West Tripura districts, they said.

Around 13,000 people in West Tripura district and 2,000 in Khowai district have taken shelter in government buildings and local clubs where temporary relief camps have been opened by the administration.

In Maharashtra, 75 villages along river banks in Palghar and Thane districts have been put on alert as the water level of two major dams in the region are close to the overflow mark, a senior civic official said.

Many parts of Himachal Pradesh have received light to moderate showers since Sunday.

Una was the hottest place in the state at 34.6 degrees Celsius, whereas the lowest temperature was recorded in Keylong at 10.2 degrees Celsius, the MeT department said.

The weatherman has issued a yellow warning for heavy rains on Tuesday.

Widespread rains lashed most of Punjab, Haryana and Chandigarh on Monday, bringing down the maximum temperatures in the region up to five notches below the normal.

Ambala and Patila received 127.5 mm and 89.2 mm rainfall respectively, the weather department here said.

Ludhiana received 39.4 mm rainfall, followed by Chandigarh with 29.3 mm, Karnal 15 mm, Bhiwani 3 mm, Amritsar 2.8 mm and Hisar with 0.2 mm.

Rain water inundated several low-lying areas in the twin states of Punjab and Haryana and their joint capital Chandigarh

As many as 119 teams of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) have been deployed in flood-hit areas of the country, including Assam and Bihar, and a 24X7 control room has been set up in Delhi to closely monitor the regions, an official statement said.

The teams, each comprising around 45 personnel, are equipped with boats, divers and other flood rescue-related equipment, it said.

NHRC notice to Bihar DGP over suicide of man in Nalanda police station

Source: pragativadi.com

New Delhi: The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) on Monday issued a notice to Bihar Director General of Police (DGP) over the suicide of a political party leader at Nalanda police station.

The commission took suo motu cognizance of media reports that a local leader of the ruling JD(U) in Bihar, who was detained by the Nalanda police in connection with a kidnapping case, allegedly hanged himself inside the station late on Thursday night.

The family of the leader, identified as Ganesh Ravidas, claimed that the police tortured him in custody. Three policemen were reportedly arrested in connection with the case.

The Commission has observed that the contents of the news report, if true amount to the gross violation of right to life of the victim. Accordingly, it has issued a notice to the Director-General of Police, Bihar calling for a detailed report on the matter within 6 weeks including Inquest Report, Post-mortem Report, Magisterial Enquiry Report and report of any other investigation conducted in the matter.

The incident reportedly occurred on 12.07.2019. The police authorities are also directed to explain as to why intimation in this regard has not been sent to the Commission within 24 hours of the occurrence of the incident.

According to the media reports, carried today on 15.7.2019, the victim was detained by the police in the night of 11.07.2019 in connection with allegations of the kidnapping of a girl residing in his village. He was suspected to have helped the girl elope. When police interrogation was on, the deceased went to use the washroom, which was outside the lock-up where he reportedly hanged himself from a window.

The news report further reveals that the victim was killed by the Police Station In-Charge and chowkidar. It is also stated that there were cut marks on the body of the deceased suggesting it to be a case of torture in police custody.

Kerala, Bihar science scores skyrocket

Source: telegraphindia.com

lass XII science-stream results from the Kerala and Bihar boards have shown a far higher rise in scoring rates this year compared with any other board.

Critics have alleged these boards deliberately awarded inflated marks to help their students compete with their peers from elsewhere during college admissions. A spokesperson for the Bihar board, contacted by The Telegraph, denied the charge.

The top 20 percentile score — above which 20 per cent candidates have scored —- among general candidates has increased by 18 per cent from last year for science students of the Bihar School Examination Board.

It’s risen 10 per cent among science students of Kerala’s Board of Vocational Higher Secondary Education. Compared with the 2017 scores, the figure has risen 18.5 per cent in Kerala. (See chart)

However, the absolute top 20 percentile scores among the Kerala and Bihar students remain on the low side compared with those from the CBSE or Andhra board or those taking the ICSE.

But for most other boards, the top 20 percentile score has remained more or less the same as last year, according to the Joint Seat Allocation Authority.

The Authority manages admissions to graduate engineering courses in the IITs, NITs and other centrally funded technical institutions. School boards provide it with their top 20 percentile scores so it can decide the eligibility of candidates who have cracked the JEE Advanced.

General category candidates need to score over 75 per cent in their board exams or make it to the top 20 percentile from their category within their school board to be eligible for admission to these engineering courses.

An IIT Bombay teacher said the board-wise top 20 percentile data indicated that the Bihar and Kerala boards had either awarded marks liberally from the outset or resorted to “moderation”.

“This suggests a mismatch between what the students have learnt and the marks they received,” he said.

“Moderation” refers to the practice of awarding extra marks in a subject across the board, barring the very high scorers. Ostensibly a way of making up for difficult questions or a general fall in performance, it is often resorted to by school boards to artificially inflate their students’ marks, critics say.

The CBSE has been carrying out moderation in several subjects every year. The human resource development ministry had written to all the school boards in 2017 to stop the practice from 2018.

Bihar board spokesperson Rajiv Ranjan Dwivedi said the results had improved because of several key initiatives adopted by board chairman Anand Kishore over the past two years. He denied any moderation by the board.

“The board focused on step-wise marking (awarding scores even for partial answers) and conducted an orientation programme. The number of objective-type questions is now 50 per cent of the total marks in all science subjects,” he said.

“Such questions accounted for 40 per cent marks in several science subjects till two years ago. Besides, more alternative questions were set. As a result, the scores improved.”

The topper from the science stream in Bihar secured 87 per cent marks last year, while this year’s topper secured 94 per cent.

A Delhi University official handing admissions said the boards appeared to be competing with each other in awarding high marks. The cut-off for admission to most colleges remains very high every year.

Rains in North Bengal, Bihar continue to wreak havoc

Source: timesnownews.com

Kolkata/Patna: Incessant rains in North Bengal and Bihar continue to wreak havoc with several areas in both the states reported to be inundated. However, what’s more worrying is the fact that the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) has issued a warning of “heavy to very heavy” rainfall in both the states in the next couple of days. 

While sub-Himalayan districts of Darjeeling, Kalimpong, Jalpaiguri, Coochbehar and Alipurduar in West Bengal are bearing the brunt of these continuous rains, people living near the banks of Koshi, Gandak, Budhi Gandak, Ganga and Bagmati in Bihar have started to flee from their homes. 

According to the IMD, Northern Bihar received a record rainfall during the last 24 hours with East Champaran reporting 214.92 mm rain, Sitamarhi 154.55 mm and Muzaffarpur 125.15 mm. Whereas in West Bengal,  Alipurduars recorded 150 mm rainfall, followed by Coochbehar at 110 mm, Siliguri at 105 mm, Kalimpong 60 mm and Darjeeling at 30 mm in the same period. 

In West Bengal, a 40-year-old man Bimal Sil has reportedly died after slipping into an open gutter while walking through a flooded street in Jalpaiguri district. As per the state weatherman, Jalpaiguri, Malda, North Dinajpur, and South Dinajpur will receive heavy rain in the next couple of days.

Meanwhile in Bihar, given the rising level of water in rivers – all engineers in the north Bihar district have been directed to be ready with the necessary equipment and boulders to face any situation and protect the embankments – reported IANS

In 2008, lakhs of people were rendered homeless after Kosi river breached embankments and caused one of the worst floods in Bihar in the state’s history. 

As for the national capital, private weather forecasting agency has said that Delhi will receive below-normal rainfall this year. “The national capital may receive less than normal rainfall this year. The area may get light showers on July 15 and 16. Monsoon is likely to remain weak over Delhi, Punjab and Haryana,” vice president of Skymet Weather Mahesh Palwat said. 

Heavy Rainfall in Bihar; Rivers Pose Flood Threat to Many Districts

Source: weather.com

Ever since the monsoon swept the Bihar on June 22, the state has witnessed good rainfall. Bihar has received 333 mm of rainfall this season from June 1 to July 12— 9% more than normal for this time of the year. On Friday, the monsoon fury continued as many parts of the state were lashed with very heavy rainfall and thunderstorm.

The downpour is triggered by the monsoon trough—an extended region of low atmospheric pressure— that persists from east to west of Indo-Gangetic plain. This well-marked low-pressure has moved northwards since Thursday and a branch of it runs from northwest Bihar to northeast Bay of Bengal across Jharkhand and Gangetic West Bengal causing widespread rainfall throughout the region.

The Weather Channel met team has forecast the surface low-pressure to persist for the next 5 days leading to very heavy rain and thunderstorms across the region. The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has forecast heavy to very heavy rains with extremely heavy falls at isolated places across Bihar. The very heavy rainfall is very likely to continue in the state till Monday.

Water levels in all major rivers of north Bihar are rising due to the incessant rainfall in Bihar and Nepal. The Times of India reported that the river Gandak poses a flood threat to Muzzafarnagar and Champaran. The sorrow of Bihar, Kosi river, as well as other rivers like Karcha and Bagmati, are also likely to swell due to heavy rains. The authorities have been monitoring the situation.

The 24-hour rainfall accumulation in Patna till Friday morning was 25 mm. The temperatures in the city stayed 2°C below normal between 25°C and 31°C. Generally cloudy sky with intermittent rain is forecast in Patna till next Tuesday. More rains are likely to follow in the next week. The 24-hour rainfall was very high at 152 mm in Farbesgang and 130 mm Chapra.

Bihar deaths: The Great Indian Survey Trick

Source: thehindubusinessline.com

Basic health and nutrition services — and not just more data — will help save children’s lives in Bihar

Every time there is a major calamity, look out for those in search of the dumb villain. In Maharashtra, state water resources minister Tanaji Sawant blames crabs for the recent breach in the Tiware Dam in Ratnagiri. In Bihar’s Muzaffarpur, fingers were pointed at the litchi when over 150 children died of acute encephalitis syndrome (AES) last month.

Crabs can’t deny the charges; nor can litchis.

The exact causes of the neurological illness are still unclear but the litchi was not the sole culprit in the AES outbreak. Many other factors, notably a dysfunctional healthcare system, a creaky Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) and extreme heat conspired against the undernourished children who had gorged on litchis fallen from trees and then gone to bed without a meal.

Almost half of Bihar’s children (48.3 per cent) are stunted or too short for their age, indicating that they have been undernourished for some time, according to the latest National Family Health Survey. A toxin in the litchi triggered reactions among children who were already malnourished, leading to hypoglycaemic encephalopathy.

Bihar has witnessed many outbreaks of AES. This time, a public interest litigation (PIL) suit by two advocates, Manohar Pratap and Sanpreet Singh Ajmani, has brought the matter to the Supreme Court (SC). Both the Centre and the Bihar government are defending themselves with masses of data and new proposals.

The Centre gave the SC a list of measures it would take to address the problem. This includes providing funds for a 100-bed paediatric intensive care unit in Muzaffarpur’s Sri Krishna Medical College.

In its affidavit, the Bihar government catalogued the steps it has taken to address the recurring AES problem in the state, and the proposed measures. It has commissioned a socioeconomic survey of the affected families in the AES-hit areas. It says this would help find a long-term solution to halt the disease.

But is more data — or yet another survey — Bihar’s pressing need?

“Credible data is certainly needed. But, currently, the biggest challenge is not the availability of data. There are already numerous government surveys as well as programme data such as Health Management Information System and others. The biggest challenge is in acting on the data,” says Sulakshana Nandi, national joint convener of Jan Swasthya Abhiyan (Peoples’ Health Movement, India).

The elephant in the room, say Nandi and other health advocates, is the lack of commitment on the part of many state governments in improving healthcare governance and health provisioning in the public sector.

“For instance, a district official is not ignorant about the status of health facilities in the district, but to what extent are they acting on it, or are empowered to act on it? States with strong public health systems such as Kerala have managed to deal with such crises, while in those with a weak public health system, it is the poor and the most vulnerable who suffer the most,” Nandi adds.

Since 2012, a standard operating procedure (SOP) has been in place to deal with AES cases in the state. The SOP, revised last year, lists the steps to be taken — such as tap water sponging, correctly positioning the patient and infusion of adequate glucose — at various levels to manage AES.

The government says in its affidavit that 6,656 copies of a booklet have been distributed to medical college hospitals, district hospitals and primary health centres to spread awareness on AES, and a soft copy of the SOP has been uploaded on the web page of the state health department.

It also points out that of the 12,206 sanctioned posts for medical doctors in the state, including contractual ones, only 5,205, or 43 per cent, are filled. There is also an acute shortage of nurses, auxiliary nurse midwives and laboratory technicians.

The state government says that it has provided gadgets such as infantometers (height-measuring device) and weighing scales to frontline workers to monitor children. Smartphones have been provided for data transmission.

But of the 1,14,718 anganwadi (childcare) centres that are sanctioned, only 99,795 are functional, according to the Bihar government affidavit. ICDS, a centrally sponsored scheme implemented by state governments and union territories, covers anganwadi services. It has the potential to be a nutrition/food safety net for poor families.

But “ICDS is failing the poorest quintile. Our diagnosis is that this is largely because many of the poorest mothers and children in India live in states such as Bihar where ICDS is in particularly poor shape. Despite improvements over time, in 2016, just about 40 per cent of Bihar’s children had received ICDS services,” says Purnima Menon, senior research fellow at the global think tank, International Food Policy Research Institute.

Menon believes the POSHAN Abhiyaan (National Nutrition Mission), launched last year, has a huge role to play here. “What is urgently needed is that the national efforts around POSHAN Abhiyaan push hard for Bihar to get the basics right in the context of their ICDS services — infrastructure, human resources, provision of food, other ICDS programme services — to all target beneficiaries,” she says. “If the basics are working, then the programme can do more in a crisis period. But if the basics are not in place, it’s going to be very difficult to respond in a crisis.”

Bihar constrained by low per capita income, needs special status: Nitish

Source: thehindu.com

Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on July 12 told the assembly that his government felt hamstrung when it came to hiking the amount paid to beneficiaries of welfare schemes, a reason why he has been pressing for the special category status.

Mr. Kumar also insisted that the State’s per capita income was “significantly lower” than the national average.

“You talk about Haryana and Tamil Nadu. While comparing the amount paid (to beneficiaries of social welfare schemes) there, please also look at their per capita income vis–vis ours,” he said.

“As a matter of fact, Bihar’s per capita income stands at less than Rs 40,000, which is significantly lower than the national average. This is the primary reason why we seek special status,” Mr. Kumar added, while responding to a calling attention motion introduced by a host of opposition leaders, including veteran Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) MLA Abdul Bari Siddiqui.

The motion had sought to draw the government’s attention towards the fact that the amount paid under welfare schemes in Bihar was far less than that doled out by the states of Tamil Nadu, Telangana and Andhra Pradesh.

For a pension scheme, the amount paid to beneficiaries in the state stood at ₹400 per month, while in Tamil Nadu and Telangana it was ₹1000, in Haryana it was ₹1800 and in Andhra Pradesh ₹2000, it said.

Demand for special status for Bihar arose with the creation of Jharkhand in 2000, which deprived the state of its mineral-rich, relatively more industrialized and urbanized southern districts.

It grew stronger in 2005 with ascendance to power of Mr. Kumar, who has often made the “special status’ issue a poll plank. After the 14th Finance Commission did away with the provision, the Chief Minister has, on many occasions, urged the Centre to make necessary amendments so that Bihar could get its due.

“You (Siddiqui) have served as the state finance minister. I wish you had taken our financial situation into account before raising your question. You are comparing Bihar with states where the per capita income is higher than the national average,” Mr. Kumar said, turning towards the RJD leader.

“Moreover, please do keep in mind that Bihar is the first state in the country to have introduced its own universal pension scheme – Mukhyamantri Vriddhajan Pension Yojana,” he added.

Unlike other programmes, the pension scheme does not exclude those above the poverty line, he asserted.

“All men and women, not drawing any other pension, shall be eligible to receive the benefit. This would put an annual burden of Rs 1800 crore and even though we need funds for development works, we are committed to implementing the scheme,” Mr. Kumar said.

Talking to reporters outside the assembly, Mr. Siddiqui, however, appeared dissatisfied with the CM’s reply.

“I am glad that the chief minister took seriously the issue raised by me. But his emphasis on the state’s financial situation leaves the basic question raised in our motion unanswered. The state’s budget this year stood at about Rs 2.05 lakh crore. This is a significant rise in comparison with what the size of budget was a few years ago,” he claimed.

“There has not been a commensurate rise in the welfare benefits being extended to the vulnerable sections of the society. So, we had sought to know whether these matters were not high on the government’s list of priorities,” Mr. Siddiqui added.

Weather plays truant in Bihar: Rain or shine it’s Sec 144 Weather plays truant in Bihar: Rain or shine it’s Sec 144

Source: indiatoday.in

t was only one month ago that the administration was forced to impose Section 144 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) in many parts of Bihar including Gaya, Begusarai and Darbhanga. The reason, as you may think, was not violence or a security threat. The restriction was imposed due to the heatwave. Now a month later, the administration has imposed Section 144 again – this time in Motihari, due to heavy rains.

The prohibitory orders were imposed on Friday. The administration has also asked all the schools to remain shut for two days. This is the first time that Section 144 has been imposed because of rain.

Earlier in June, Section 144 was imposed in six districts of the state — Gaya, Begusarai, Darbhanga, Gopalganj, Madhubani and Sitamarhi. People were ordered not to step out of their houses between 11 am to 4 pm. The severe heatwave had claimed over 100 lives in Bihar in one month.

Monsoon has hit several states and India received 28 per cent more rainfall than the 50-year average in the week to July 10, data from the India Meteorological Department (IMD) showed. Parts of northern and eastern India received heavy showers, while in the northeastern state of Assam three persons were killed in rain and flood-related incidents and over 2 lakh people across 11 districts have been affected by the deluge.

Incessant rainfall for the past five days has triggered flash floods and landslides in several places in Meghalaya, causing damage to infrastructure and crippling normal life. Heavy rains had also slowed down Mumbai city.

Meanwhile, New Delhi had overcast conditions and the weather department has predicted only very light rains during the next two to three days.

The India Meteorological Department has said the states such as Uttarakhand, East Uttar Pradesh, Bihar are likely to witness heavy rainfall on Friday.

AES in Bihar: A case of rural healthcare in crisis

Source: downtoearth.org.in

The recent outbreak of acute encephalopathy syndrome (AES) in Bihar, which claimed lives of more than 170 childrenportrays a crippling rural healthcare system grappling with shortage of health providers and proper infrastructure.

The brain fever in Bihar has not established as encephalitis at the moment, hence its called encephalopathy — ‘itis’ indicates that the syndrome is an infection, while the cause is yet to be ascertained ‘pathy’, on the other hand, indicates that the cause is unknown.

Acute encephalitis syndrome, on the other hand, is a broad term and includes viral infection (encephalitis) and hypoglycaemic encephalopathy — low sugar levels as a result of malnourishment and lack of proper diet. 

AES is a brain fever that gets manifested in the form of seizures and needs to be treated speedily — time plays a crucial role in reducing mortality rates.

“The onset of AES is not from seizure but alteration in brain, which causes fever and begins much early. A pateint may have four hours from there till the onset of seizures,” said Shefali Gulati, a specialist in child neurology at AIIMS-Delhi.

“The beginning of seizures indicates that the brain is swollen. A child must reach a health facility within five-seven minutes of the seizure, for the treatment to be effective,” Gulati said.

“The primary healthcare centres (PHCs) must be stocked abundantly with anti-convulsant drugs, IV fluids and other necessary drugs for correction of hypoglycaemia (low blood sugar)in AES-affected children,” she told DTE.

Claims vs reality

In a bid to curtail the disease, the Bihar government had in 2016 prepared a standard operating procedure (SoP). It was subsequently revised in 2018. The SoP clearly mentions that PHCs have to be prepared with anti-convulsant and other drugs. It defines role of PHCs, community health centres (CHCs), district hospitals as well as medical college hospitals.

While the Bihar government claimed adequate preparation in accordance to the SoP, Down To Earth (DTE) found stark difference between ground reality and the claims made.

In early June, Vijay Kumar from Bahadurpur village of Muzaffarpur district arrived at the PHC in Kanti block, with his son who was convulsing. But his son was refused admission in the PHC. Kumar then had to take him to Sri Krishna Medical College and Hospital (SKMCH) in an auto, where he later died.

“My child was convulsing badly, his face had deformed and was unconscious. We had absolutely no idea as to what was happening. But the compounder in this very PHC refused to admit him saying he would not be able to do anything. Had the doctors here helped, I would have perhaps saved my child,” Kumar rued.

Kumar is yet again at the PHC with his ailing wife, who however, has been admitted.

The PHC has a ward dedicated for AES and has two beds. Kumar, however, claimed that the ward came into existence much later after the deaths peaked by mid-June.

Muzaffarpur has borne the brunt of the deadly fever with more than 100 deaths and 544 cases. Kanti is one of the four most affected blocks of the district.

Suraj Das from Jamalabad village of Muzaffarpur’s Meenapur block narrated a similar story. Das told DTE that there was nobody in the PHC, when he came with his four-year-old child, early in the day.

It may be mentioned here that the children with AES fall sick between 4 am and 7 am in the morning, and it is the only time of the day when there is even a chance of getting a healthcare provider in the PHC, as less than one-fourth PHCs in Bihar run around the day, according to a Niti Ayog report. 

While both Kumar and Das tried going to PHCs, others did not, owing to poor experiences earlier. There were also cases when medicines ran out of stock in the PHCs.

“We don’t have faith on PHCs because they are never functional. We prefer to take our children to the SKMCH,” Mohammad Sharif Alam of Madhopur Machhia village, Muzaffarpur who lost his four-year-old son, told DTE.

Poor infrastructre

More than 70 per cent PHCs, out of 2,012 PHCs in Bihar, function without a medical officer and a nurse. Hence, they have been deemed non-eligible for any grading, according to the Union health and family welfare’s Health Management Information System (HMIS) for 2018-19. The mandatory criteria for considering a PHC eligible for any grading is at least a medical officer and a nurse.   

In Muzaffarpur alone, 98 out of 103 PHCs were found unfit for grading while another five, which were found fit for grading, scored zero (based on availability of laboratory services, ambulance services, OPD rooms and availability of drugs and other supplies) on a scale of five. Sitamarhi’s 45 PHCs out of 57 were ineligible and East Champaran’s 83 out of 102 shared the same condition.

In the case of CHCs in Bihar, only 19 per cent got a grade above four (based on immunisation and family planning methods) in 2017-18, decline of one per cent point from last year. 

Bihar is also infamous for not being able to spend a large part of funds provided under the National Rural Health Mission.

The Bihar government took 191 days in 2017-18 to transfer the fund from state treasury to implementing agency, according to Niti Ayog. This is the highest across all over India. In Uttar Pradesh, the corresponding figure was 118.

Lack of human resource

Besides crippling infrastructure, Bihar also faces shortage of health providers.

Unavailability of doctors is the biggest problem grappling the state. In 2017-18, the state had only 3,679 doctors, against the sanctioned number of 9,558, according to the Bihar Economic Survey 2018-19.

Worse, instead of adding, the state is also witnessing a decline of doctors: Bihar had 4,106 doctors in 2016-17. 

The state has only 2,508 nurses, against the sanctioned posts of 6,423; 19,901 ANMS (Auxillary Nurse Midwives) against the sanctioned posts of 34,446.

This comes at a time, when the state government is in a bed-increasing spree for its medical college hospitals.

After the AES outbreak this year, chief minister Nitish Kumar announced to increase the bed strength in SKMCH to 1,500 from 610.

The government has also decided to increase up to 5,000 beds from the existing strength of 2,500 in Patna Medical College and Hospital, the biggest hospital of the state.

“This is absurd. When all indicators say that they have to put stress on improving rural health infrastructure, their entire stress is on increasing tertiary care. Moreover, from where will they get doctors? The state has not enough doctors to serve current government health facilities,” Ranjit Kumar, an office bearer of Bihar State Health Services Association, told DTE

“This is so because the recruitment of doctors on regular posts in government sector takes ages in Bihar, but even those working in government sector do not get promotion in time. Why would doctors want to stay in in Bihar then,” he added. 

The announcement by CM Kumar is also seen as a knee jerk-reaction in the wake of current outbreak as the deadline seems unrealistic. 

“It is impossible to do it in one year time and it would take a minimum of two years. It takes two years to convert a 6-bedded PHC to 30-bedded CHC, so how would it be possible to convert 610 beds to 1,500 in a year,” a senior health official told DTE, on condition of anonymity.