Tejashwi Yadav slams Nitish Kumar over collapsing health system in Bihar

Following the horrific incident, former Deputy Chief Minister and RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav took to the social media platform X on Tuesday and criticised Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and Health Minister Mangal Pandey.

He shared a video of the injured patient and condemned what he described as “gross negligence and collapse of the health system.”

“A disabled patient admitted in Patna’s NMCH was in deep sleep when rats nibbled his fingers. Just a few days ago, a deceased’s eye was eaten by rats in the same hospital. Yet no action has been taken,” Tejashwi posted.

He claimed that the health reforms implemented during his 17-month tenure as Health Minister have been reversed.

“The Health Minister Mangal Pandey, who is secretly projecting himself as the RSS/BJP’s Chief Minister candidate, has destroyed the improvements we made in the Health Department,” Tejashwi stated.

He further mocked the state administration, saying: “The unconscious Chief Minister will soon be shown a presentation claiming the patient’s fingers weren’t bitten by rats but by a state-of-the-art robotic surgical machine. And then, as always, the Chief Minister will say – “All this happened before 2005?"

The victim, Awadesh Prasad, an elderly resident of Nalanda district, had recently undergone surgery and was recovering in the hospital when the attack by rodents on Sunday.

The family and eyewitnesses have alleged that despite repeated complaints about the presence of rats, no concrete action was taken by hospital authorities.

The horrific episode has once again spotlighted the dire state of hospital hygiene and management in the state.

Recently, rats also nibbled the eye of a deceased patient in the hospital morgue. Despite the public outcry, no accountability was fixed, and hospital sanitation remains severely compromised.

NMCH is yet to issue a formal response, and there is no confirmation of disciplinary action against any official or staff involved.