Bihar panel to ban private practice by govt docs, create rural incentives

Bihar's health department forms a committee to ban private practice by government doctors and incentivize rural postings for better healthcare delivery.

The Bihar health department has constituted a six-member committee to hold consultations with key stakeholders on implementing the state government’s proposed policy to ban private practice by government doctors and to introduce incentives for those posted in remote rural areas, officials said on Wednesday.

Patna’s IGIMS, in the pattern of AIIMS, does not allow private practice of doctors, and gives them NPA. (HT Archive)

The move follows the Bihar cabinet’s approval on December 16, 2025, to roll out the government’s flagship programme ‘Saat Nischay-3’ (Seven Resolves 3.0) for the 2025–30 period. Under its fifth resolution — “accessible health-secure life” — the state plans to prohibit private practice by government doctors while introducing a separate incentive system to ensure better healthcare delivery in rural and remote regions.

According to an order issued on Tuesday by special secretary (health) Himanshu Sharma, the committee will be headed by Dr Rekha Jha, director-in-chief (nursing and disease control), Bihar health services. Its members include the medical superintendent of Patna Medical College Hospital (PMCH), the principal of Nalanda Medical College Hospital (NMCH), Bihar Health Services Association president Dr KK Mani, its general secretary Dr Rohit Kumar, and Dr Bibhuti Prassan Sinha, professor and head of the ophthalmology department at Indira Gandhi Institute of Medical Sciences (IGIMS).

Patna’s IGIMS, in the pattern of AIIMS, does not allow private practice of doctors, and gives them NPA.

Separately, health secretary Lokesh Kumar Singh has directed all district magistrates (DMs) to form dedicated inspection teams to curb the practice of middlemen diverting patients from government hospitals to private nursing homes, diagnostic centres and medicine outlets.

In a letter to the DMs, Singh acknowledged reports of touts weaning away patients and asked for stringent legal action against those involved, including government officials found to be colluding in such activities. He instructed that the inspection teams be headed by a senior deputy collector, along with district-level officers and a medical officer from a government health facility, to conduct regular inspections.

The health secretary also asked DMs to nominate a district-level nodal officer to coordinate inspections, monitor action taken reports (ATR), and share details with the health department on a regular basis.