Deputy Chief Minister on 23rd September said that 93,448 people in Bihar have availed benefits under the Ayushman Bharat health scheme in the past one year.

Addressing a function in Patna on the completion of one year of the Ayushman Bharat- Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana, Sushil Modi, who also holds charge of the Finance portfolio, said that Rs 92 crore has been spent on the treatment of 93,448 people under the scheme in the state. He said 712 hospitals in Bihar and 16,027 hospitals in the country have been enrolled under the scheme. The DyCM said that 27.87 lakh golden cards have been given to people in Bihar.

Bihar Health Minister Mangal Pandey, Health Department's Principal Secretary Sanjay Kumar and other senior officials were also present on the occasion. The state government is contemplating to set up a separate "medical science university" in order to give special thrust on medical education in the state, the DyCM said. He said Rs 9,622 crore has been earmarked as Health department's budget for 2019-20 which is 23 per cent more than the previous year.

He said the process to set up 11 new medical colleges have begun in the state and the medical college building in Madhepura will be ready by November this year. The AIIMS, Patna director P K Singh said that a total of 1,026 patients were treated under Ayushman Bharat scheme at AIIMS, Patna in past one year.