Patients Treated Under Mobile Phone Torchlight at Bihar Government Hospital, Video Exposes Systemic Failure

A shocking picture of Bihar’s public healthcare system has emerged from the Gopalganj Model Sadar Hospital, where doctors and medical staff were forced to treat patients using mobile phone torchlights due to prolonged power outages. Despite having grand multi-storey buildings and expensive modern equipment, the hospital is struggling to meet the most basic requirement — uninterrupted electricity.

The situation has once again brought the saying “darkness beneath the lamp” into grim reality, as the district’s largest government hospital appears to be in urgent need of treatment itself.

Video of Darkness Goes Viral

A video showing the hospital plunged into darkness has gone viral on social media. The footage clearly captures scenes from the emergency ward, women’s ward, and children’s ward, all without electricity. In the video, health workers can be seen administering injections, examining patients, and writing prescriptions using mobile flashlights.

Patients and attendants stood helpless as essential medical services continued under unsafe and inadequate conditions.

Second Power Failure in a Week

According to hospital sources, this was not an isolated incident. Within the same week, the hospital reportedly faced a similar power outage for the second time, with electricity remaining unavailable for several hours. Alarmingly, such a large “model hospital” lacks a reliable alternative power backup system or functional generators.

When power goes off, the hospital’s entire system reportedly shifts to emergency mode, putting critically ill patients, including those on ventilator support, at serious risk.

“What Is the Use of Crores-Spent Buildings?”

Irfan Ali Guddu, a patient’s attendant, expressed his anguish:
“When we brought the patient here, the hospital was in complete darkness. Doctors were writing prescriptions using mobile phone lights and giving injections the same way. What is the use of buildings worth crores if there is no electricity?”

Another attendant, Basant Singh, said that technicians attempt to restore power, but frequent tripping and the absence of a robust system continue to cause severe hardship for doctors and patients alike.

Chief Secretary’s Home District, Yet Grim Reality

The incident has raised even more serious questions as Gopalganj is the home district of Bihar Chief Secretary Pratyay Amrit. At a time when the state government claims major improvements in healthcare infrastructure, the condition of a flagship hospital in the Chief Secretary’s own district exposes glaring gaps in governance and accountability.

For now, the hospital tasked with healing others stands as a symbol of systemic neglect, desperately in need of urgent corrective treatment itself.