On a computer screen at the Asian Development Research Institute (ADRI) in Patna, Dr Sanchita Mahapatra, who heads the centre for health policy division, point out a graph, displaying an innovative development index known as night time light (NTL) radiance, to trace the trajectory of Bihar's growth. The NTL radiance indicates the density of illumination in a given area at night time. Invariably, developed areas have a lot greater density of illumination as compared to underdeveloped regions.
If that's a new way to map economic growth, Bihar seems to be growing at a fast pace. The decadal assessment shows that NTL radiance in the state has grown many times over as compared to the rest of the country. More than a decade back, the NTL radiance index showed Bihar as literally an area of darkness. But things are fast improving. The most illuminated city centres on the screen are identified as Patna, Jehanabad, Vaishali and Siwan.
Mahapatra has been exploring any correlation between the areas with increased NTL radiance and better health facilities. For the past many years, her team has been struggling to get the exact feedback on outbreak of infectious diseases from the ground. Years of persistent training and persuasion of the ground staff eventually yielded positive results. Now there is a mechanism in place to get real-time data on the spread of infectious diseases. A timely alert can avert a crisis.
Today, Bihar ranks among the top five states on the index of real-time reporting of the diseases. There is no doubt that the health facilities are still lagging far behind when compared with other, developed regions of the country. Yet Bihar has been moving fast to fill up the deficit inherited by the legacy of past indiscretions in governance. Patna promises to build one of the biggest hospitals in the world under the aegis of the prestigious Patna Medical college Hospital (PMCH) which celebrated its centenary on February 26. President Droupadi Murmu inaugurated it and lauded the contribution of the PMCH and its luminaries in strengthening India's healthcare system.
Apart from the government initiatives like the setting up of new medical colleges, including two AIIMS, the striking feature of healthcare in the state today is a surfeit of private investment. Much like the fast pace of illumination in Bihar, several pockets of bright spots have emerged where private medical facilities have come up in numbers. In addition to Patna, Muzaffarpur has always been a hub of good doctors. Of late, thousands of private hospitals and health facilities have been set up to cater to people in the state which has the highest population density in the country. And most of these hospitals are linked to the Ayushman Bharat-Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (ABPMJAY) to assist the most vulnerable sections of the population.
Beneficiaries of the Ayushman Bharat Yojana are getting treatment for ailments ranging from heart disease to cancer in hospitals all over the state free of cost. In some cases where specialist treatment is required, patients are treated at super-speciality centres at Patna or referred to specialised centres in Delhi or Mumbai. What is particularly encouraging is the growth of specialised medical health care centres which were nonexistent till a decade ago. The improved health facilities in the state are as much a sign of changing Bihar as an increased NTL radiance.
Of late there has been no outbreak of diseases which used to be endemic in Bihar. The real-time reporting of diseases like Kala-Azar, flu or encephalitis has enabled the health machinery to prevent the snowballing of any outbreak into a crisis. This is in stark contrast to the time when people had no option but to suffer in silence. Bihar has been showing a consistent improvement in the health index. This was especially evident when Bihar handled the Covid-19 pandemic as deftly as developed regions of the country.
For those who lived in Bihar in the early nineties, the discernible changes in Bihar are nothing short of a silent revolution. When I worked as a journalist based in Patna in 1991, the state was plagued by acute power shortages, poor connectivity due to bad roads and a pathetic healthcare system. Even in a city like Patna, the rule of law was practically replaced by the "survival of the fittest", leading to the migration of doctors, engineers and entrepreneurs out of the state. In rural parts, the situation was even worse. The decade of the nineties was marked by massacres on caste lines, taking social discord to an extreme that turned many villages inhospitable.
That scary past seems so distant when one drives through Patna and other parts of Bihar today. Roads are far better, the traffic is flowing smoothly and police officers keeping a watch are mostly women. In the evening, people including young couples throng a newly constructed boulevard across the Ganga, better known as "Marine Drive". These scenes were outright inconceivable in the nineties when an evening stroll in the city was considered to be a risky proposition.
There is no doubt that Bihar needs to grow at a much faster pace to catch up with the developed parts of the country. During that wasted decade, its growth curve had not only stagnated but had been pushed back. Despondency was in the air, leading to a retrogressive mindset. The state has to grow faster in order to make up for the losses. But, with better healthcare, connectivity, improved law and order situation and the prevalent social amity, the state - once the cradle of Indian civilization - seems all set to realise its potential of becoming a growth driver of the future. The NTL radiance is growing - and glowing.
[Ajay Singh is Press Secretary to the President of India. Views are personal]
