Facing severe criticism for its inept handling of the encephalitis deaths in the state , Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar finally spoke about it in length and called it an “extremely unfortunate and serious issue.” Addressing the Bihar Assembly, the CM said, “What happened is extremely unfortunate, expressing grief is not enough.”

The Nitish Kumar government has been under fire after over 150 children lost their lives in the state due to AES.

Adding that the government is doing everything possible, the CM said, “We have held several meetings and discussed the issue at length. I held a meeting at AIIMS Patna in 2015 and various experts had different views as to what is the reason for it. A report was even sent to the US to get an expert opinion on it and all had different views.”