PATNA, Feb. 4 -- Bihar finance minister Bijendra Prasad Yadav on Tuesday said that Rs.21,270.40 crore have been allocated in the state budget for the health sector in the 2026-27 financial year, with a sharp focus on strengthening infrastructure and expanding medical education through at least 10 new medical colleges. Presenting the state's budget in the Bihar legislative assembly, Yadav said new government medical colleges are coming up at Madhubani, Vaishali, Siwan, Jamui, Bhojpur, Buxar, Begusarai, Supaul, Munger and Sitamarhi, where construction work is already in progress. These will add to the recently established medical colleges at Purnia, Bettiah, Samastipur, Madhepura and Saran (Chhapra). The minister said 1,100 beds have already been made operational under the Rs.5,400 crore Patna Medical College Hospital (PMCH) redevelopment project, which envisages a total capacity of 5,400 beds. Darbhanga Medical College Hospital is also being upgraded to 2,500 beds at an estimated cost of Rs.2,546.41 crore. To improve access to specialised care in rural areas, all community health centres at the block level will be developed as specialty hospitals, with new posts of orthopaedics, ophthalmology and ENT specialists. In addition, all 36 district hospitals in the state will be upgraded into super-specialty facilities. The budget also highlighted progress on several dedicated institutions, including a 100-bed hospital for head, neck and oral cancer patients at Gangwara in Darbhanga, and a 100-bed palliative care hospital under construction at Muzaffarpur. The 400-bed orthopaedic Lok Nayak Jay Prakash Narayan super-specialty hospital is in its final phase of development. To promote indigenous systems of medicine, the state is setting up ayurvedic colleges at Darbhanga and Begusarai, a homeopathic college at Muzaffarpur, and a Tibbi (Unani) college in Patna. An eye super-specialty centre is also being developed at Kankarbagh in Patna under a public-private partnership with Sankara Eye Foundation India, Coimbatore. Yadav said sustained government intervention in the health sector has led to significant improvements, with Bihar recording reductions in infant mortality rate, neonatal mortality rate and under-five mortality rate, now performing better than the national average....