PATNA, Feb. 14 -- Bihar health minister Mangal Pandey on Friday informed the state Assembly that steps are being taken to complete affiliation, student registration and examination form processes for diploma courses in paramedical, nursing and pharmacy colleges for the 2023-24 session. Examinations for these courses are scheduled to be held in March-April. Responding to a question from MLA Manjeet Kumar Singh, the minister said that the affiliation and extension processes for institutes for the 2024-25 session are underway. Examinations for the new session will be conducted only after the results of the 2023-24 batch are declared. Necessary instructions have already been issued to the concerned university. Pandey attributed the delay in examinations to legal challenges. Several institutes had challenged in the Patna High Court the state government's order transferring affiliation and examination responsibilities to the Bihar University of Health Sciences. A stay order issued by the court remains in effect, causing the hold-up. The Bihar health minister also shared the state's total enrolment capacity: 27,818 seats in nursing, 4,740 in pharmacy, and 11,925 in paramedical diploma and certificate courses. Replying to a call attention motion of AIMIM legislator Akhtarul Iman, health minister Pandey expressed serious concern over a sharp rise in mouth, breast and liver cancer cases in the Seemanchal region, attributing it to arsenic and uranium contamination in groundwater. The Seemanchal region covers the districts of Purnia, Araria, Kishanganj, Katihar and Supaul in north Bihar. To tackle the problem, the health department has formed a core group of experts drawn from the State Cancer Institute, AIIMS Patna, Mahavir Cancer Hospital and Research Centre and Homi Bhabha Cancer Hospital & Research Centre in Muzaffarpur. A comprehensive cancer screening drive conducted by the department from October 2022 to January 2026 identified 323 confirmed cases in Purnea, 103 in Katihar, 75 in Supaul, 74 in Araria and 71 in Kishanganj. From January 2020 to December 2025, the state government released financial assistance for treatment of cancer. A sum of Rs.16.27 crore was released for the treatment of 2,407 patients in Purnea, Rs.16.11 crore for 2,309 patients in Supaul, Rs.13.86 crore for 2,049 in Araria, Rs.13.07 crore for 1,945 in Katihar and Rs.6.14 crore for 938 patients in Kishanganj. Health officials noted that about 25% of rural wards in 31 of Bihar's 38 districts have groundwater with arsenic, fluoride, and iron levels exceeding permissible limits, a problem worsened by industrial growth, urbanisation, discharge of untreated waste, and inadequate water management practices....