Thursday, March 27, 2008

Bihar Assembly’s 40 daylong session underway

Since 21 February, 2008, Bihar Assembly is in session

The state government presented a budget of Rs 38,574.12 crore with a surplus of Rs 4,613 crore in the Bihar Assembly for the next fiscal proposing a number of measures to improve the financial position of the state with thrust on key sectors like education, health, road, rural works, energy and phed, besides water resources department.

The Rs 4613 crore surplus budget for 2008-09 was placed on February 25 2008 by Deputy chief minister- cum-Finance Minister Sushil Kumar Modi amid a boycott by the entire Opposition. The first-ever gender budget which was presented in the Bihar assembly for 2008-09 identified the provisions that would improve the quality of the lives of women.

A roadmap is being prepared to make the state a 'foodgrain surplus state'. He informed the assembly that the state government had decided to observe the 2008-09 as 'agriculture year'. The state government would invest over Rs 4707 crore till 2012 to make farmers self-reliant. The state government has earmarked Rs 191.34 crore during the current fiscal against Rs 20.43 crore sanctioned in 2005-06 when the state was under RJD rule. It has also decided to set up 'seed villages' across the state to provide quality seeds and fertilsers to small and marginal farmers.

The state government has lowered transport tax and brought it on par with adjoining states including West Bengal, which witnessed rise in sale of chassis of trucks and buses in the state.

There are 10 key social sector departments covered this year, which are social welfare, SC and ST welfare, PHED, Minorities welfare, human resource development, health, rural development, urban development, panchayati raj and labour resource. The state government had made provision of Rs 2,247.80 crore for the 10 key social sector departments as total provisions of Rs 14,957.34 crore for the next fiscal, he said.

In the ten social sector departments which were covered, provision for women benefit-oriented schemes was 15 per cent of the total budget of the departments and was 5.83 per cent of the total budget size (Rs 38,574.12 crore) proposed for the next fiscal and 1.95 per cent of the state's gross state domestic product.

In Bihar women's population was 3.97 crore against 4.32 crore population of men but their literacy rate was just more than half than that of men. Under the gender budget, two categories were framed -- one making hundred per cent provision earmarked for women for Mahila Vidyalaya, Chief Minister's Kanya Vivah scheme, Naari Shakti Yojana, Kanya Suraksha Yojana, Indira Awas Yojana and another related to earmarking funds for women for scholarships and Sarva Shiksha Abhiyaan.

Earlier it was believed that public outlays were gender-neutral which was not correct. Although women constitute 50 per cent of the population, they were far behind in all aspects of human development indicators, he said.

The major gender sensitive provisions in the budget was Rs 72 crore for CM Balika Poshak (uniform) yojana, Rs 42.14 crore for CM Balika Cycle scheme and Rs 20 crore for CM Kanya Vivah scheme, he said.

Similary, Rs 26 crore was proposed for Kanya Suraksha yojana, Rs 22.50 crore for Nari Shakti yojana, Rs 5.15 crore for Swaymsidha, Rs 53.90 crore Laxhmibai Social Security scheme, Rs 13.80 crore for National Programme for Adolescent Girls Nutrition, Rs 105.89 crore for supplementary nutrition (pregnant and lactating mothers, Rs 486.98 crore for Indira Awas yojana, Rs 14.45 crore for dular strategy and Rs 1.40 crore for new ITI for women, he said.

Free textbooks would be provided to all girl students from class one to eight, while it has been proposed to provide uniforms to 10.29 lakh girl students between class six and eight and cycles to 2.11 lakh girl students between class nine and ten. The deputy chief minister said a separate cell would be set up in each of the ten departments which would monitor implementation of the schemes for women.

The state government had presented an outcome budget for 2008-09 for the third time in succession recognising that the outcome was more important than outlays. Stating that the outcome budget means estimates of outcome (physical achievement) from the budget outlays, he said that the achievement report against the outcome budget 2006-07 would be placed in July this year in the state legislature.

The surplus budget, presented for the third year in a row since 2006-07, had also indicated a healthy 14 per cent growth in terms of revenue generation from the last fiscal (2007-08) when the surplus was to the tune of Rs 3483 crore.
Placing his third budget as the Finance Minister, Modi said during the coming fiscal, the total planned and non-planned expenditure of the Government had been increased to Rs 38,574.11 crore from Rs 33,783.71 crore during the current fiscal.

Stating that the capital expenditure of the state Government during the period under review was proposed to be increased by 19.5 per cent from this year and four times from 2005-06, Modi said by following strict fiscal discipline, they had been able to restrict the fiscal deficit to only 2.89 per cent of the Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP) during the coming financial year against the target of three per cent.

The state plan during the period under review had also been increased to Rs 13,500 crore, up by 32.35 per cent from the current fiscal, Modi said, adding among the non-plan oulays for major sectors, education, health and repair of roads had also been increased by 15 per cent, 25 per cent and 12 per cent to Rs 5267 crore, Rs 1278 crore and Rs 435 crore respectively.

Expressing concern that no Central assistance had been available to the state Government so far to deal with the devastating flood in the state last year, he told the House that between 2006-07 and 2008-09, the state Government had allocated Rs 9863 crore for this purpose. Moreover, he said in agriculture, irrigation and Animal Husbandry, the total budgetory allocation for 2008-09 was proposed to be increased by 43 per cent to Rs 191 crore, by 46 per cent to Rs 1600 crore and by 75 per cent from 12.5 crore to Rs 62 crore respectively.

Earlier, protesting the Speaker's refusal to admit their separate adjournment motions for discussions on the murder of their respective leaders, the entire opposition, including the RJD, Congress, Lok Janshakti Party, CPI (M), CPI and the CPI(ML), had boycotted the presentation of the budget.

The RJD leaders accused the ruling parties of deceiving the people of Bihar, not making any headway in the area of power supply and drinking water and letting the bureaucracy run over the state while encouraging corruption in all government offices.

The opposition leaders also took exceptions to the Governor's speech saying he left out many important issues that concerns Bihar including the plights of uncommitted teachers, implementation of National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme, release of the BPL list, and the safety of Biharis in Maharashtra.

Earlier, the opposition leaders in the Bihar Assembly hooted Governor, R.S. Gavai, a Maharashtrian, during his customary inaugural. Bihar Governor was faced with an awkward situation in the state Assembly when some opposition and ruling party members drew his attention to the ongoing assault on people from Uttar Pradesh and Bihar in his home state Maharashtra and called for his intervention. The incident occurred when the Governor was exchanging pleasantries with the members after his joint address in the state Assembly on the first day of the Budget Session.

Chief Minister Nitish Kumar criticized the opposition for making uncharitable remarks against Governor. The Chief Minister also appealed to the Center to impose Article 365 on Maharashtra government for its failure to protect people from Bihar and Uttar Pradesh in the light of violence perpetrated against them by Shiv Sena and Maharashtra Navnirman Sena activists.

A CPI-ML (Liberation) legislator read out a parallel speech and urged the members to reject the Governor’s speech as it was a “bundle of lies”.
RJD claimed that it was only protesting against the Governor’s address to the joint session.

In his address to the joint session the Governor lauded the efforts of the Government to accelerate growth in the state and counted 29 new schemes.

The Governor had to make a hasty exit from the Assembly, but took time off to tell the media that it was regrettable that his work was being targeted because of the ethnic row.


Members of Legislative Assembly in Bihar


West Champaran
Dhanha - Rajesh Singh (RJD)
Bagaha - Purnamasi Ram (JDU)
Ramnagar -Chandra Mohan Rai (BJP)
Shikarpur -Bhagirathi Devi (BJP)
Sikta - -Khursheed Ahmed (INC)
Lauriya - -Pradip Singh (JDU)
Chanpatia -Satish Chandra Dubey (BJP)
Bettiah - Renu Devi (BJP)
Nautan - Baidyanath Pd Mahto (JDU)
East Champaran
Raxaul - Dr. Ajay Kumar Singh (BJP)
Sugauli - Ramchandra Sahni (RJD)
Motihari -Pramod Kumar (BJP)
Adapur - Shyam Bihari Prasad (JDU)
Dhaka - Avnis Singh (BJP)
Ghorasahan -Laxmi Narayan Yadav (RJD)
Madhuban -Shivaji Rai (JDU)
Pipra - Krishna Nandan Paswan (BJP)
Kesaria - Rajesh Raushan (RJD)
Harsiddhi -Maheshwar Singh (LJP)
Govindganj -Mina Devi (JDU)
Gopalganj
Kataiya - Amrendra Pandey (BSP)
Bhore - Anil Ram (RJD)
Mirganj - Ram Sevak Singh (JDU)
Gopalganj -Subhash Singh (BJP)
Barauli - Rampravesh Rai (BJP)
Baikunthpur -Deodutt Prasad Yadav (RJD)
Siwan
Basantpur -Manik Chandra Rai (RJD)
Goriakothi -Indradeo Prasad (RJD)
Siwan - Byasdeo Prasad (BJP)
Mairwa - Ramayan Manjhi (BJP)
Darauli - Amarnath Yadav (CPI ML)
Jiradei - Shyam Bahadur Singh (JDU)
Maharajganj -Damodar Singh (JDU)
Raghunathpur -Jagmato Devi (JDU)
Saran
Manjhi - Gautam Singh (JDU)
Baniapur -Manoranjan Singh (JDU)
Masrakh - Kedar Nath Singh (JDU)
Taraiya - Ramdas Rai (RJD)
Marhaura -Lal Babu Rai (IND)
Jalalpur -Janardan Singh Sigrewal (BJP)
Chapra - Ram Pravesh Rai (JDU)
Garkha - Gyan Chand Manjhi (BJP)
Parsa - Chotelal Rai (JDU)
Sonepur - Ramanuj Pd Yadav (RJD)
Vaishali
Hajipur - Nityanand Rai (BJP)
Raghopur -Rabri Devi (RJD)
Mahnar - Ramakishore Singh (LJP)
Jandaha - Dr. Achyutanand Singh (LJP)
Patepur - Prema Choudhry (RJD)
Mahua - Shivchandra Ram (RJD)
Lalganj - Vijay K Shukla (JDU)
Vaishali -Vrishna Patel (JDU)
Muzaffarpur
Paru - Ashok Kumar Singh (BJP)
Sahebganj -Raju Kumar Singh (JDU)
Baruraj - Shashi Kumar Rai (JDU)
Kanti - Ajit Kumar (JDU)
Kurhani - Manoj Kumar Singh (JDU)
Sakara - Bilat Paswan (JDU)
Muzaffarpur -Vijendra Choudhary (IND)
Bochaha - Ramai Ram (RJD)
Gaighatti -Maheshwar Pd Yadav (RJD)
Aurai - Arjun Rai (JDU)
Minapur - Dinesh Prasad (JDU)
Sitamarhi
Runnisaidpur -Gudi Devi (JDU)
Belsand - Sanjay Kumar Gupta (RJD)
Sheohar - Ajit Kumar Jha (RJD)
Sitamarhi -Sunil Kumar Pintu (BJP)
Bathnaha -Nagina Devi (LJP)
Majorganj -Dinkar Ram (BJP)
Sonebersa -Dr. Ramchandra Purve (RJD)
Sursand - Jainandan Pd Yadav (RJD)
Pupri - Shahid Ali Khan (JDU)
Madhubani
Benipatti -Saligram Yadav (JDU)
Bisfi - Haribhushan Thakur (IND)
Harlakhi -Ramnaresh Pandey (CPI)
Khajauli -Ram Preet Paswan (BJP)
Babubarhi -Kapildeo Kamat (JDU)
Madhubani -Ram Deo Mahto (BJP)
Pandaul - Vinod Narayan Jha (BJP)
Jhanjharpur -Nitish Mishra (JDU)
Phulparas -Dev Nath Yadav (SP)
Laukaha - Hari Prasad Shah (JDU)
Madhepur -Jagat Narayan Singh (RJD)
Darbhanga
Manigachi -Lalit Kumar Yadav (RJD)
Bahera - Abdul Bari Siddiqui (RJD)
Ghanshyampur -Izhar Ahmed (LJP)
Baherhi - Hari Krishna Yadav (RJD)
Darbhanga (R) -Pitambar Paswan (RJD)
Darbhanga (T) -Sanjay Sarogi (BJP)
Keoti - Ashok Kumar Yadav (BJP)
Jale - Ram Niwas Prasad (RJD)
Hayaghat -Hari Nandan Yadav (RJD)
Samastipur
Kalyanpur -Ashwamegh Devi (JDU)
Warisnagar -Maheshwar Hazari (LJP)
Samastipur -Ramnath Thakur (JDU)
Sarairanjan -Ramchandra Nishad (RJD)
Mohiuddin Nagar -Ajay K Bulganeen (RJD)
Dalsingh Sarai -Ramlakhan Mahto (RJD)
Vibhutipur -Ramdeo Verma (CPM)
Rosera - Gajendra Pd Singh (RJD)
Singhia - Dr. Ashok Kumar (INC)
Hasanpur -Sunil Kumar Pushpam (RJD)
Begusarai
Balia - Jamshed Ashraf (JDU)
Matihani -Narendra Kumar Singh (IND)
Begusarai -Bhola Pd Singh (BJP)
Barauni - Rajendra Pd Singh (CPI)
Bachwara -Ramdeo Rai (INC)
Cheria Bariyarpur- Anil Choudhary (LJP)
Supaul
Bakhri - Ram Vinod Paswan (CPI)
Raghopur -Neeraj K Singh 'Babloo' (JDU)
Kishanpur -Aniruddh Pd Yadav (JDU)
Supaul - Vijendra Pd Yadav (JDU)
Triveniganj -Vishwa Mohan Kumar (JDU)
Chattapur -Vishwa Mohan Bharti (JDU)
Saharsa and Madhepura
Kumarkhand -Ramesh Shrideo (JDU)
Singheswar -Rameshwar Pd Yadav (JDU)
Saharsa - Sanjiv Kumar Jha (BJP)
Mahishi - Gunjeshwar Shao (JDU)
Simri-Bakhtiyarpur-Dinesh Chandra Yadav (JDU)
Madhepura -Manindra K Mandal (JDU)
Sonbarsa -Kishore Kumar 'Munna' (IND)
Kishanganj -Renu Kumari (JDU)
Alam Nagar -Narendra N Yadav (JDU)
Arwal
Arwal - Dularchand Singh (LJP)
Kurtha - Suchitra Sinha (JDU)

Purnea
Amour - Abdul Jalil Mastan (INC)
Baisi - Syed Ruknudin (IND)
Banmankhi -Krishna Kumar Rishi (BJP)
Dhamdaha -Dilip Kumar Yadav (RJD)
Kasba - Pradip Kumar Das (BJP)
Purnea - Raj Kishore Keshri (BJP)
Rupauli -Bima Bharati (RJD)
Araria
Araria - Pradeep Kumar Singh (BJP)
Forbesganj -Laxmi Narayan Mehta (BJP)
Jokihat - Manzar Alam (JDU)
Narpatganj -Janardan Yadav (BJP)
Raniganj -Ramji Das Rishidev (BJP)
Sikti - Murlidhar Mandal (JDU)
Kishanganj
Bahadurganj -Md. Tousif Alam (INC)
Kishanganj -Akhatarul Iman (RJD)
Thakurganj -Gopal Kumar Agarwal (SP)
Katihar
Korha - Sunita Devi (INC)
Barari - Bibhash Chandra Chaudhary (BJP)
Katihar - Tar Kishor Prasad (BJP)
Kadwa - Abdul Zalil (NCP)
Barsoi - Munnaf Alam (CPI-ML-L)
Pranpur - Mahendra Narayan Yadav (RJD)
Manihari -Mubarak Hussain (INC)
Bhagalpur
Pirpainti -Shobha Kant Mandal (RJD)
Colgong - Ajay Kumar Mandal (JDU)
Nathnagar -Sudha Shrivastav (JDU)
Bhagalpur -Ashwini Kumar Choubey (BJP)
Gopalpur -Narendra Kumar Niraj (JDU)
Bihpur - Shailesh Kumar (RJD)
Sultanganj -Sudhanshu Shekhar Bhaskar (JDU)
Banka
Amarpur - Surendra Prasad Singh (RJD)
Dhuraiya -Budheo Choudhary (JDU)
Banka - Ram Narayan Mandal (BJP)
Belhar - Janardan Manjhi (JDU)
Katoria - Raj Kishor Prasad (RJD)
Jamui
Chakai - Phalguni Prasad Yadav (BJP)
Jamui - Abhay Singh (JDU)
Sikandra -Rameshwar Paswan (JDU)
Jhajha - Damodar Rawat (JDU)
Munger
Tarapur - Shakuni Chaudhury (RJD)
Kharagpur -Anant Kumar Satyarthi (JDU)
Khagaria
Parbatta -Ramanand Prasad Singh (JDU)
Chautham -Panna Lal Singh 'Patel' (JDU)
Khagaria -Poonam Devi (Yadav) (JDU)
Alauli - Pashupati Kumar Paras (LJP)
Monghyr
Monghyr - Monazir Hassan (JDU)
Jamalpur -Shailesh Kumar (JDU)
Lakhisarai
Surajgarha -Prem Ranjan Patel (BJP)
Lakhisarai -Phulena Singh (RJD)
Barbigha -Ramsundar Ram Kanaujia (JDU)
Sheikhpura
Shiekhpura -Sunila Devi (INC)
Nalanda
Asthawan -Jitendra Kumar (JDU)
Biharsharif -Dr. Sunil Kumar (JDU)
Rajgir - Satyadeo Narain Arya (BJP)
Nalanda - Shrawon Kumar (JDU)
Islampur -Ramswaroop Prasad (JDU)
Hilsa - Ramcharitra Pd Singh (JDU)
Chandi - Hari Narayan Singh (JDU)
Harnaut - Sunil Kumar (JDU)
Patna
Mokameh - Anant Kumar Singh (JDU)
Barh - Gyanendra Kumar Singh (JDU)
Bakhtiarpur -Vinode Yadav (BJP)
Fatuha - Saryug Paswan (JDU)
Masaurhi -Punam Devi (JDU)
Patna West -Nitin Navin Pd Sinha (BJP)
Patna Central -Arun Kumar Sinha (BJP)
Patna East -Nand Kishore Yadav (BJP)
Danapur - Asha Devi (BJP)
Maner - Shrikant Nirala (RJD)
Phulwari -Shyam Rajak (RJD)
Bikram - Anil Kumar (BJP)
Paliganj -Nand Kumar Nanda (CPI-ML-L)
Bhojpur
Sandesh - Vijendra Yadav (RJD)
Barhara - Asha Devi (JDU)
Arrah - Amrendra Pratap Singh (BJP)
Shahpur - Munni Devi (BJP)
Jagdishpur -Sri Bhagwan Singh (JDU)
Piro - Narendra Kumar Pandey (JDU)
Sahar - Ram Naresh Ram (CPI-ML)
Buxar
Brahmpur -Ajeet Chaudhari (RJD)
Buxar - Hriday Narayan Singh (BSP)
Rajpur - Shyam Payari Devi (JDU)
Dumraon - Dadan Singh (AJVD)
Rohtas
Karakat - Arun Singh (CPI-ML-L)
Bikramganj -Jai Kumar Singh (JDU)
Dinara - Sita Sundari Devi (BSP)
Sasaram - Jawahar Prasad (BJP)
Chenari - Lalan Paswan (JDU)
Nokha - Rameshwar Prasad (BJP)
Dehri - Pradip Kumar Joshi (IND)

Kaimur
Ramgarh - Jagadanand Singh (RJD)
Mohania - Chhedi Paswan (JDU)
Bhabhua - Ram Chandra Singh Yadav (BSP)
Chainpur -Mahabali Singh (RJD)
Aurangabad
Nabinagar -Vijay Kumar Singh (LJP)
Deo - Renu Devi (JDU)
Aurangabad -Ramadhar Singh (BJP)
Rafiganj -Md. Nehaluddin (RJD)
Obra - Satya Narayan Singh (RJD)
Goh - Dr. Ran Vijay Kumar (JDU)
Jehanabad
Makhdumpur -Krishnandan Pd Varma (RJD)
Jahanabad -Sachita Nand Yadav (RJD)
Ghosi - Jagdish Sharma (JDU)
Gaya
Belaganj -Surendra Pd Yadav (RJD)
Konch - Dr. Anil Kumar (JDU)
Gaya Mufasil -Awadesh Kumar Singh (INC)
Gaya Town -Prem Kumar (BJP)
Imamganj -Uday Narayan Chaudhry (JDU)
Gurua - Shakeel Ahmad Khan (RJD)
Bodh Gaya -Hari Manjhi (BJP)
Barachatti -Jitan Ram Manjhi (JDU)
Fatehpur -Ajay Paswan (RJD)
Atri - Kunti Devi (RJD)
Nawada
Nawada - Purnima Yadav (IND)
Rajauli - Banwari Ram (BJP)
Gobindpur -Kaushal Yadav (IND)
Warshaliganj -Pradip Kumar (IND)
Hisua - Anil Singh (BJP)

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