A delegate addresses a session of the global summit at a hotel in Patna on Friday. Picture by Nagendra Kumar Singh

Patna, Feb. 17: Bihar is changing, but the change is not fast enough. That in a nutshell sums up the views of the large number of non-resident Biharis settled abroad who are attending the Global Summit.

For an overwhelming number of the 1,000 and odd non-resident Bihari delegates, Nitish Kumar comes out with flying colours when compared to Lalu Prasad. But when it comes to “Nitish Vs Nitish”, the praise appears to be more muted as the non-resident Biharis find their home state still lagging behind in key areas — power, medical care and education to name a few.

Sudhir Kumar Thakur, settled in Berlin, Germany, and belonging to Darbhanga district, is the chief executive officer of a company which deals with distribution of diagnostics equipment, believes that though Bihar is changing but more effort should be made in the field of medicine.

“No doubt Bihar is changing. I can see the change because after 16 years since my last visit, roads have become better, many shopping malls have come up and even the lifestyle has changed. But as far as medical facilities are concerned, I do not see any change. The state has not advanced in terms of providing well-equipped facilities to patients. There is a lot of scope in this area but it seems that the government has ignored this important field,” he said.

US-based banker Ambhuj Kumar, who hails from Madhubani, said education should be a thrust area for the government. “We are still lagging behind in education. Apart from the elite class, even middle class parents are still sending their children outside the state to pursue good education. It means that the state is not able to provide good education,” said Ambhuj Kumar, vice-president, risk strategy, at HSBC-Chicago.

Cardiologist Ranjay Narain of Patna, who is attached to Birmingham Heartlands Hospital in the UK, said there is lack of awareness among the people regarding heart diseases. “The government is not doing enough to spread awareness about heart diseases. There is no screening project of the government by which authentic data can be collected.”

Ram Kumar Shahi, foreign director, electricity, government of Canada, who did his higher education from Ara district, said law and order had improved under the present regime. “But the government needs to work hard in the field of generating electricity and for that the private sector must be allowed. More development can take place in the state once electricity is generated which will result in generating employment through the private sector.”