The Fire raged in Damodarpur village Panchayatin Bhojpur district, Bihar MPs and MLAs across party lines slept comfortably. The whole village was on fire tonight and crop lying in the agricultural fields were burnt to ashes. It also engulfed the houses of the villagers. No help reached at night.
Bihar Home Secretary Mr Amanullah was informed around 11 O' clock at night who promised help. He was informed by a Delhi based senior journalist from The Times of India at the behest of a villager.
Local legislators Lalmuni Choubey and Kanti were unreachable. The need for some 9-10 fire brigade buses was a felt need that was unmet. The husband ofthe local MLA was present but to no avail since he was helping physically rather than alerting the administration to act with promptness.
The crop waiting to be taken home was reduced to ashes in the fire.
Only one fire engine that is there in the district was lying defunct and there was no way to control the flames except sprinkling water in a primitive way.
No case was registered. The district administration did gave verbal assurances on phones. M N Safina, District Magistrate, Bhojpur was informed from Delhi about the goings on in the village. Raj Kumar Singh, Secretary, Ministry of Disaster Managemnt also promised help from Patna at the earliest.
Fire incidents in this region are an annual feature still there is no disaster preparedness from the government side.
FOR DETAILS CONTACT: SHIVJI: 09939693898
Tuesday, April 29, 2008
Monday, April 14, 2008
Cabinet Reshuffle in Bihar & at Centre
Upcoming Lok Sabha election dictate Ministerial choices both at Centre as well as in Bihar
Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar on Sunday pumped fresh blood into his 28-month-old ministry by inducting 19 new faces and dropping 10 "under-performing" ministers.
Seventeen ministers of Cabinet rank and two ministers of state were administered the oath of office and secrecy by Bihar governor R.S. Gavai at Raj Bhavan here. Of these 19, 13 belong to the Janata Dal (United) and six to the BJP.
Among the 19 new ministers who were administered the oath of office and secrecy included six EBCs, two members each from the Muslim and Dalit communities, five upper castes and four OBCs.
Kumar had earlier said that he would expand his ministry "any day, any time" and sought the resignation of his entire council of ministers on Sunday morning.
Barring his deputy, Sushil Modi, all 25 ministers complied, enabling the JD(U) chief minister to form a new team.
Kumar accepted the resignation of 10 ministers, eight from the JD(U) and two from the BJP, and retained the rest.
After the induction of 19 ministers, the strength of the new-look ministry rose to 36.
Those who were given the pink slip on the ground of 'less than satisfactory performance' will not be making a comeback in the new ministry.
They include
Health Minister Chandramohan Rai,
Sports, Art and Culture Minister Janardan Singh Sigriwal,
Building Minister Monazir Hasan,
Rural Development Minister Baidyanath Mahto,
Food, Supply, and Commerce Minister Suchitra Singh,
Social Welfare Minister Rameshwar Paswan,
Transport Minister Ajit Kumar,
Minority Welfare Minister Manzar Alam,
Minor Irrigation Minister Vishwamohan Rai, and
Information and Public Relations Minister Arjun Rai.
Among the new faces to join the Nitish cabinet are :
Bhola Singh,
Giri Raj Singh,
Vyasdeo Prasad,
Ram Narayan Mandal,
Renu Devi,
Ram Pravesh Rai,
Awadhesh Narayan Singh, and
Vyasdeo Prasad (all from BJP)
and Nagmani (husband of outgoing minister Suchitra Singh),
Jitan Ram Manjhi,
Shahid Ali Khan,
Bhagwan Singh Kushwaha,
Dinesh Chandra Yadav,
Dinesh Prasad,
Chhedi Paswan,
Hari Narayan Singh,
Damodar Raout,
Ramanand Singh,
Hari Prasad Sah, and
Jamshed Ashraf (all from JD-U).
Governor R. S. Gavai swore in all the new ministers in the presence of Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Kumar Modi, Assembly Speaker Uday Narayan Chowdhary, and Bihar Legislative Council chairperson Prof. Arun Kumar. Opposition leaders were not present on the occasion.
Former Urban Development Minister Ashwini Kumar Choubey who was one of the first ones to tender his resignation at the call of Chief Minister Nitish Kumar made no bones about his frustration with his removal from the Urban Development department to the Public Health Engineering Department (PHED).
New Cabinet:
Nitish Kumar - Chief Minister, Home, Administrative Reforms
Sushil Kumar Modi – Deputy Chief Minister, Finance, Commerce
Nand Kishore Yadav – Health
Ashwini Kumar Choubey – PHED
Vijendra Prasad Yadav – Water Resources
Ramashray Prasad Singh – Energy, Parliamentary Affairs
Narendra Singh – Food and Consumers
Sudha Srivastava – Planning and Development
Prem Kumar – Road Construction
Nagmani – Agriculture
Ramnath Thakur - Law (Additional charge of Information and Public Relations)
Jitan Ram Manjhi – Scheduled Castes Welfare
Narendra Narayan Yadav – Revenue and Land Reforms
Bhagwan Singh Kushwaha – Urban Development
Shahid Ali Khan – Science and Technology (Additional charge of Minority Welfare)
Bhola Singh – Urban Development
Giri Raj Singh – Cooperative
Dinesh Prasad – Minor Irrigation Resources
Dinesh Chandra Yadav – Industry
Chhedi Paswan - Building Construction
Damodar Raout – Social Welfare
Harinarayan Singh – Human Resources and Development
Ramanand Singh – Transport
Renu Devi – Art, Culture, and Youth Affairs
Hari Prasad Sah – Panchayati Raj (additional charge of Extreme Backward Welfare)
Ram Narayan Mandal – Fishery
Ram Pravesh Rai – Tourism
Awadhesh Narayan Singh – Labor Resources
Independent Charge:
Dr. Anil Kumar – Information Technology
Gautam Singh – Sugarcane
Ram Chandra Sahni – Mining and Geology
Nitish Mishra – Emergency Management
Ramji Das Rishideo – Forestry and Environment
Jamshed Ashram – Excise and Prohibition
State Minister:
Vyasdeo Prasad - Health
The biggest beneficiaries in the exercise were the EBCs. Among the members from this social category who found representation in the council of ministers are four Koeris (Vyasdeo Prasad, Nagmani, Bhagwan Singh Kushwaha and Dinesh Prasad Kushwaha), one Nonia (Renu Kumari) and Halwai (Hari Prasad Sah).
While Jeetan Ram Manjhi and Chhedi Paswan are the two members from the Dalit community, Nitish Kumar made up for the exit of two Muslims (Monazir Hassan and Manzar Alam) by including as many new members from the community (Shahid Ali Khan and Jamshed Ashraf).
The new ministers sworn in on Sunday also include four OBCs —Dinesh Chandra Yadav, Hari Narain Singh (Kurmi), Damodar Rout (Dhanuk) and Ram Narayan Mandal (Teli).
Three Bhumihars (Giriraj Singh, Bhola Prasad Singh and Ramanand Prasad Singh) and two Rajputs (Ram Pravesh Rai and Awadhesh Narayan Singh) also figure in the new lot of ministers.
Earlier, at the central level too there is a cabinet reshuffle in the first week of April wherein Raghunath Jha was inducted as the Brahmin face of RJD in the Lok Sabha. He entered active politics in 1960s as a socialist before switching over to Congress, Janata party, RJD, JD-U and finally rejoining Lalu Prasad`s party. An ardent follower of former Prime Minister Chandra Shekhar, the 69-year-old Jha remained a member of socialist party till 1972 before switching over to Congress and successfully contesting the assembly elections from Sheohar. He represented the constituency in 1972, 1977 and 1980 on Congress ticket and became a minister in the erstwhile Jagannath Mishra ministry in Bihar.
As he paraded in favour of Mishra before the Raj Bhavan in 1985 in support of the latter`s candidature for the post of Chief Minister and ouster of the then Chief Minister Bhagwat Jha Azad, Jha was denied re-nomination from Sheohar for "disobeying" the Congress leadership. Jha then resigned from the Congress` primary membership and secured a Janata party ticket when Chandra Shekhar was its president. He won the elections to the Sheohar assembly seat for the fourth time in a row.
After merger of former Prime Minister V P Singh`s Jan Morcha, Janata Party and Lok Dal of former deputy Prime Minister Devi Lal in Bangalore in 1988, Jha was made the state president of Janata Dal in Bihar.
But his relations with Singh was going well and he was removed from the post in three months. A few months after his removal, Jha was made chairman of the party`s parliamentary board in Bihar following Chandra Shekhar`s intervention.
He was pitted as chief ministerial candidate against Lalu Prasad and former Chief Minister Ramsunder Das by Chandra Shekhar in a triangular contest in 1990 but lost.
Only 18 MLAs voted in favour of Jha as Lalu became the Chief Minister. Jha was made a minister with important portfolios of agriculture, land and revenue. Jha did not seem overly excited when he got that call that he was going to be sworn in. "I have been a minister many times in Bihar. We are like Everyday batteries, ready to go all the time. And so is the case now," he said.
Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar on Sunday pumped fresh blood into his 28-month-old ministry by inducting 19 new faces and dropping 10 "under-performing" ministers.
Seventeen ministers of Cabinet rank and two ministers of state were administered the oath of office and secrecy by Bihar governor R.S. Gavai at Raj Bhavan here. Of these 19, 13 belong to the Janata Dal (United) and six to the BJP.
Among the 19 new ministers who were administered the oath of office and secrecy included six EBCs, two members each from the Muslim and Dalit communities, five upper castes and four OBCs.
Kumar had earlier said that he would expand his ministry "any day, any time" and sought the resignation of his entire council of ministers on Sunday morning.
Barring his deputy, Sushil Modi, all 25 ministers complied, enabling the JD(U) chief minister to form a new team.
Kumar accepted the resignation of 10 ministers, eight from the JD(U) and two from the BJP, and retained the rest.
After the induction of 19 ministers, the strength of the new-look ministry rose to 36.
Those who were given the pink slip on the ground of 'less than satisfactory performance' will not be making a comeback in the new ministry.
They include
Health Minister Chandramohan Rai,
Sports, Art and Culture Minister Janardan Singh Sigriwal,
Building Minister Monazir Hasan,
Rural Development Minister Baidyanath Mahto,
Food, Supply, and Commerce Minister Suchitra Singh,
Social Welfare Minister Rameshwar Paswan,
Transport Minister Ajit Kumar,
Minority Welfare Minister Manzar Alam,
Minor Irrigation Minister Vishwamohan Rai, and
Information and Public Relations Minister Arjun Rai.
Among the new faces to join the Nitish cabinet are :
Bhola Singh,
Giri Raj Singh,
Vyasdeo Prasad,
Ram Narayan Mandal,
Renu Devi,
Ram Pravesh Rai,
Awadhesh Narayan Singh, and
Vyasdeo Prasad (all from BJP)
and Nagmani (husband of outgoing minister Suchitra Singh),
Jitan Ram Manjhi,
Shahid Ali Khan,
Bhagwan Singh Kushwaha,
Dinesh Chandra Yadav,
Dinesh Prasad,
Chhedi Paswan,
Hari Narayan Singh,
Damodar Raout,
Ramanand Singh,
Hari Prasad Sah, and
Jamshed Ashraf (all from JD-U).
Governor R. S. Gavai swore in all the new ministers in the presence of Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Kumar Modi, Assembly Speaker Uday Narayan Chowdhary, and Bihar Legislative Council chairperson Prof. Arun Kumar. Opposition leaders were not present on the occasion.
Former Urban Development Minister Ashwini Kumar Choubey who was one of the first ones to tender his resignation at the call of Chief Minister Nitish Kumar made no bones about his frustration with his removal from the Urban Development department to the Public Health Engineering Department (PHED).
New Cabinet:
Nitish Kumar - Chief Minister, Home, Administrative Reforms
Sushil Kumar Modi – Deputy Chief Minister, Finance, Commerce
Nand Kishore Yadav – Health
Ashwini Kumar Choubey – PHED
Vijendra Prasad Yadav – Water Resources
Ramashray Prasad Singh – Energy, Parliamentary Affairs
Narendra Singh – Food and Consumers
Sudha Srivastava – Planning and Development
Prem Kumar – Road Construction
Nagmani – Agriculture
Ramnath Thakur - Law (Additional charge of Information and Public Relations)
Jitan Ram Manjhi – Scheduled Castes Welfare
Narendra Narayan Yadav – Revenue and Land Reforms
Bhagwan Singh Kushwaha – Urban Development
Shahid Ali Khan – Science and Technology (Additional charge of Minority Welfare)
Bhola Singh – Urban Development
Giri Raj Singh – Cooperative
Dinesh Prasad – Minor Irrigation Resources
Dinesh Chandra Yadav – Industry
Chhedi Paswan - Building Construction
Damodar Raout – Social Welfare
Harinarayan Singh – Human Resources and Development
Ramanand Singh – Transport
Renu Devi – Art, Culture, and Youth Affairs
Hari Prasad Sah – Panchayati Raj (additional charge of Extreme Backward Welfare)
Ram Narayan Mandal – Fishery
Ram Pravesh Rai – Tourism
Awadhesh Narayan Singh – Labor Resources
Independent Charge:
Dr. Anil Kumar – Information Technology
Gautam Singh – Sugarcane
Ram Chandra Sahni – Mining and Geology
Nitish Mishra – Emergency Management
Ramji Das Rishideo – Forestry and Environment
Jamshed Ashram – Excise and Prohibition
State Minister:
Vyasdeo Prasad - Health
The biggest beneficiaries in the exercise were the EBCs. Among the members from this social category who found representation in the council of ministers are four Koeris (Vyasdeo Prasad, Nagmani, Bhagwan Singh Kushwaha and Dinesh Prasad Kushwaha), one Nonia (Renu Kumari) and Halwai (Hari Prasad Sah).
While Jeetan Ram Manjhi and Chhedi Paswan are the two members from the Dalit community, Nitish Kumar made up for the exit of two Muslims (Monazir Hassan and Manzar Alam) by including as many new members from the community (Shahid Ali Khan and Jamshed Ashraf).
The new ministers sworn in on Sunday also include four OBCs —Dinesh Chandra Yadav, Hari Narain Singh (Kurmi), Damodar Rout (Dhanuk) and Ram Narayan Mandal (Teli).
Three Bhumihars (Giriraj Singh, Bhola Prasad Singh and Ramanand Prasad Singh) and two Rajputs (Ram Pravesh Rai and Awadhesh Narayan Singh) also figure in the new lot of ministers.
Earlier, at the central level too there is a cabinet reshuffle in the first week of April wherein Raghunath Jha was inducted as the Brahmin face of RJD in the Lok Sabha. He entered active politics in 1960s as a socialist before switching over to Congress, Janata party, RJD, JD-U and finally rejoining Lalu Prasad`s party. An ardent follower of former Prime Minister Chandra Shekhar, the 69-year-old Jha remained a member of socialist party till 1972 before switching over to Congress and successfully contesting the assembly elections from Sheohar. He represented the constituency in 1972, 1977 and 1980 on Congress ticket and became a minister in the erstwhile Jagannath Mishra ministry in Bihar.
As he paraded in favour of Mishra before the Raj Bhavan in 1985 in support of the latter`s candidature for the post of Chief Minister and ouster of the then Chief Minister Bhagwat Jha Azad, Jha was denied re-nomination from Sheohar for "disobeying" the Congress leadership. Jha then resigned from the Congress` primary membership and secured a Janata party ticket when Chandra Shekhar was its president. He won the elections to the Sheohar assembly seat for the fourth time in a row.
After merger of former Prime Minister V P Singh`s Jan Morcha, Janata Party and Lok Dal of former deputy Prime Minister Devi Lal in Bangalore in 1988, Jha was made the state president of Janata Dal in Bihar.
But his relations with Singh was going well and he was removed from the post in three months. A few months after his removal, Jha was made chairman of the party`s parliamentary board in Bihar following Chandra Shekhar`s intervention.
He was pitted as chief ministerial candidate against Lalu Prasad and former Chief Minister Ramsunder Das by Chandra Shekhar in a triangular contest in 1990 but lost.
Only 18 MLAs voted in favour of Jha as Lalu became the Chief Minister. Jha was made a minister with important portfolios of agriculture, land and revenue. Jha did not seem overly excited when he got that call that he was going to be sworn in. "I have been a minister many times in Bihar. We are like Everyday batteries, ready to go all the time. And so is the case now," he said.
Thursday, March 27, 2008
Sugarcane fields burn in Bihar
Sugarcane production over one acre is estimated to cost at least Rs 10,000
Even as Bihar government claims and promises, farmers have been burning sugarcane for several months to protest the state’s failure to revive the sugar mills.
The protest that took place in Marhaura, in Chapra district, where one of the first sugar mills of the country came up. There was once a chocolate factory too.
Chapra parliamentary constituency, under which Marhaura falls, is represented by the Railway minister Lalu Prasad in the Lok Sabha yet the farmers anger is directed towards the BJP spokesman and former Union minister, Rajiv Pratap Rudy.
At the onset of the current session of the Bihar Assembly, three RJD MLAs barged into Assembly premises in sugarcane-loaded bullock carts. The farmers have decided to lodge a case against Rudi and the management of JHV Distillery and invade the Bihar capital with more sugarcane-loaded bullock carts.
Sugarcane production over one acre is estimated to cost at least Rs 10,000. Thus one can only estimate the loss the farmers suffered because of the false assurance, as per media reports. The Board of Industrial Finance and Restructuring settled the assets and liability of the closed factory to JHV Distillery in 2006.
The reports note that this is not the first case of the burning of sugarcane in Bihar. Earlier, farmers of East and West Champaran districts too burnt their crops and even tried to smuggle cart and truck-load of sugarcane to Nepal.
Farmers train guns on Rudi, Jaiswal
Patna, March 24: It’s a “sugary”, but not so sweet, fire that burns in fields around Marhowrah sugar factory in Chapra.
Hundreds of farmers in the area have been burning sugarcane to protest an NDA dispensation that promised to revive the factory by 2007. Marhowrah is one of the first sugar mills in the country.
Marhowrah falls in the constituency that railway minister Lalu Prasad represents in the Lok Sabha. But farmers’ ire is directed more towards who they see as the “real sinners” — the high-profile BJP spokesman and former Union minister for civil aviation Rajiv Pratap Rudi and chairman of the UP-based JHV Distillery and Sugar Ltd, Jawahar Jaiswal.
Rudi and Jaiswal working in collaboration with each other asked the farmers to grow sugarcane over an area of 65,000 acres while promising to revive the factory by the end of 2007. They promised to buy the crops at the rate of Rs 98 to Rs 110 per quintal.
They also roped in state sugarcane minister Nitish Mishra to join them at a revival function supporting their venture at the outset of 2007.
However, with the crops ready and no buyers in sight — the farmers are now desperate.
They recently barged into the Assembly premises in sugarcane-loaded bullock carts under the leadership of local MLA Lalbabu Rai. At present farmers have decided to lodge a case against Rudi and the management of JHV Distillery and invade the Bihar capital with more sugarcane-loaded bullock carts.
“We have decided to lodge a case against Rudi and JHV Distillery shortly and take a cart procession to Patna to highlight our plight,” said N.K. Singh, the president of the Marhaura Anumandal Ganna Krishi Vikas Manch.
The Manch is a forum that farmers formed to carry out agitation against what they see as “cheating”.
“I don’t know what to do with the sugarcane crop grown on the five acres of land I own. I am neck deep in loan,” said Mohan Singh, a farmer of Akuchak in Taraiya block. Bipin Singh of the same village shares a similar plight.
“Sugarcane production over one acre costs at least Rs 10,000. You can imagine the loss,” said the president of the sugarcane-growing farmer’s union.
The Board of Industrial Finance and Restructuring settled the assets and liability of the closed factory to JHV Distillery in 2006. The distillery, in co-operation with Rajiv Pratap Rudi, promised to start one of the oldest factories by the end of the 2007.
The state sugarcane minister, Nitish Mishra, told The Telegraph: “Yes, there the farmers are in genuine trouble. We have decided to summon the JHV management to find out what had gone wrong with the promise after the Assembly session ends.”
He, however, said that the state does not have a direct control over the factory, as it was handed over to private entrepreneurs.
Rudi on his part said: “Banks have delayed releasing funds due to glut in the sugar sector. Our claim for funds is lying with the Union Bank and the Punjab National Bank. We hope that the banks will release the funds soon.”
Jaiswal, too, said: “We will open the factory after banks release the money.”
The fact remains that there are no signs of the factory re-opening. And farmers who feel cheated and trapped in debt are up in arms.
NALIN VERMA
The Telegraph
Even as Bihar government claims and promises, farmers have been burning sugarcane for several months to protest the state’s failure to revive the sugar mills.
The protest that took place in Marhaura, in Chapra district, where one of the first sugar mills of the country came up. There was once a chocolate factory too.
Chapra parliamentary constituency, under which Marhaura falls, is represented by the Railway minister Lalu Prasad in the Lok Sabha yet the farmers anger is directed towards the BJP spokesman and former Union minister, Rajiv Pratap Rudy.
At the onset of the current session of the Bihar Assembly, three RJD MLAs barged into Assembly premises in sugarcane-loaded bullock carts. The farmers have decided to lodge a case against Rudi and the management of JHV Distillery and invade the Bihar capital with more sugarcane-loaded bullock carts.
Sugarcane production over one acre is estimated to cost at least Rs 10,000. Thus one can only estimate the loss the farmers suffered because of the false assurance, as per media reports. The Board of Industrial Finance and Restructuring settled the assets and liability of the closed factory to JHV Distillery in 2006.
The reports note that this is not the first case of the burning of sugarcane in Bihar. Earlier, farmers of East and West Champaran districts too burnt their crops and even tried to smuggle cart and truck-load of sugarcane to Nepal.
Farmers train guns on Rudi, Jaiswal
Patna, March 24: It’s a “sugary”, but not so sweet, fire that burns in fields around Marhowrah sugar factory in Chapra.
Hundreds of farmers in the area have been burning sugarcane to protest an NDA dispensation that promised to revive the factory by 2007. Marhowrah is one of the first sugar mills in the country.
Marhowrah falls in the constituency that railway minister Lalu Prasad represents in the Lok Sabha. But farmers’ ire is directed more towards who they see as the “real sinners” — the high-profile BJP spokesman and former Union minister for civil aviation Rajiv Pratap Rudi and chairman of the UP-based JHV Distillery and Sugar Ltd, Jawahar Jaiswal.
Rudi and Jaiswal working in collaboration with each other asked the farmers to grow sugarcane over an area of 65,000 acres while promising to revive the factory by the end of 2007. They promised to buy the crops at the rate of Rs 98 to Rs 110 per quintal.
They also roped in state sugarcane minister Nitish Mishra to join them at a revival function supporting their venture at the outset of 2007.
However, with the crops ready and no buyers in sight — the farmers are now desperate.
They recently barged into the Assembly premises in sugarcane-loaded bullock carts under the leadership of local MLA Lalbabu Rai. At present farmers have decided to lodge a case against Rudi and the management of JHV Distillery and invade the Bihar capital with more sugarcane-loaded bullock carts.
“We have decided to lodge a case against Rudi and JHV Distillery shortly and take a cart procession to Patna to highlight our plight,” said N.K. Singh, the president of the Marhaura Anumandal Ganna Krishi Vikas Manch.
The Manch is a forum that farmers formed to carry out agitation against what they see as “cheating”.
“I don’t know what to do with the sugarcane crop grown on the five acres of land I own. I am neck deep in loan,” said Mohan Singh, a farmer of Akuchak in Taraiya block. Bipin Singh of the same village shares a similar plight.
“Sugarcane production over one acre costs at least Rs 10,000. You can imagine the loss,” said the president of the sugarcane-growing farmer’s union.
The Board of Industrial Finance and Restructuring settled the assets and liability of the closed factory to JHV Distillery in 2006. The distillery, in co-operation with Rajiv Pratap Rudi, promised to start one of the oldest factories by the end of the 2007.
The state sugarcane minister, Nitish Mishra, told The Telegraph: “Yes, there the farmers are in genuine trouble. We have decided to summon the JHV management to find out what had gone wrong with the promise after the Assembly session ends.”
He, however, said that the state does not have a direct control over the factory, as it was handed over to private entrepreneurs.
Rudi on his part said: “Banks have delayed releasing funds due to glut in the sugar sector. Our claim for funds is lying with the Union Bank and the Punjab National Bank. We hope that the banks will release the funds soon.”
Jaiswal, too, said: “We will open the factory after banks release the money.”
The fact remains that there are no signs of the factory re-opening. And farmers who feel cheated and trapped in debt are up in arms.
NALIN VERMA
The Telegraph
Five Rajya Sabha MPs elected from Bihar
In Bihar, actor-turned-politician Shatrughan Sinha of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) wanted a third term but was denied it by his party. BJP general secretary Rajiv Pratap Rudy was also denied the ticket.
Leaders who were in the fray in Bihar included N.K Singh of the Janata Dal-United (JD-U), C.P Thakur (BJP), central minister Prem Chand Gupta from the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), Sabir Ali of the Lok Janshakti Party (LJP), and Govind Pandey, Independent supported by the National Democratic Alliance (NDA).
The elections dented the Samajwadi Party in Bihar, which had only two members in the assembly. Both of them, Debnath Prasad Yadav and Gopal Agarwal, resigned from the party to protest against its decision to support candidates of the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA).
Bihar leaders including Janata Dal (U) national spokesperson Shivanand Tiwari, former State Planning Board Deputy Chairperson N. K. Singh, Central Minister and Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader Premchand Gupta, Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) candidate Sabir Ali, and Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Dr. C. P. Thakur were elected for the Rajya Sabha seats following elections on 26 March.
Election official S. P. Sharma announced the results in the afternoon saying the most votes garnered by any of the candidates from Bihar went to the former Union Health Minister and BJP leader Dr. Thakur (55 votes) followed closely by Tiwari (48), Singh (47), Gupta (44), and Ali (40).
Independent candidate Govind Pandey managed to get only one vote. 235 out of 243 members of the Bihar Assembly took part in voting.
The three elected Rajya Sabha members from the NDA camp, Thakur, Tiwari, and Singh said they would take up Bihar's cause in the Parliament to demand for equal and fair treatment of the state and an end to the discriminatory attitude towards Bihar.
The three leaders then met with Chief Minister Nitish Kumar in his chamber at Bihar Assembly who then congratulated them for their victories and wished them luck in their new avatar as the Rajya Sabha MPs.
Earlier, the JD(U) boycotted the informal daily National Democratic Alliance leaders’ meetings in the last 20 days of the first part of the budget session in March as it was annoyed that BJP was drawing its leaders into its fold.
Leaders who were in the fray in Bihar included N.K Singh of the Janata Dal-United (JD-U), C.P Thakur (BJP), central minister Prem Chand Gupta from the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), Sabir Ali of the Lok Janshakti Party (LJP), and Govind Pandey, Independent supported by the National Democratic Alliance (NDA).
The elections dented the Samajwadi Party in Bihar, which had only two members in the assembly. Both of them, Debnath Prasad Yadav and Gopal Agarwal, resigned from the party to protest against its decision to support candidates of the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA).
Bihar leaders including Janata Dal (U) national spokesperson Shivanand Tiwari, former State Planning Board Deputy Chairperson N. K. Singh, Central Minister and Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader Premchand Gupta, Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) candidate Sabir Ali, and Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Dr. C. P. Thakur were elected for the Rajya Sabha seats following elections on 26 March.
Election official S. P. Sharma announced the results in the afternoon saying the most votes garnered by any of the candidates from Bihar went to the former Union Health Minister and BJP leader Dr. Thakur (55 votes) followed closely by Tiwari (48), Singh (47), Gupta (44), and Ali (40).
Independent candidate Govind Pandey managed to get only one vote. 235 out of 243 members of the Bihar Assembly took part in voting.
The three elected Rajya Sabha members from the NDA camp, Thakur, Tiwari, and Singh said they would take up Bihar's cause in the Parliament to demand for equal and fair treatment of the state and an end to the discriminatory attitude towards Bihar.
The three leaders then met with Chief Minister Nitish Kumar in his chamber at Bihar Assembly who then congratulated them for their victories and wished them luck in their new avatar as the Rajya Sabha MPs.
Earlier, the JD(U) boycotted the informal daily National Democratic Alliance leaders’ meetings in the last 20 days of the first part of the budget session in March as it was annoyed that BJP was drawing its leaders into its fold.
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)
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)
Thursday, March 13, 2008
Row in Bihar Legislative Council over protocol violation
The Bihar Legislative Council witnessed noisy scenes on 3rd March as members cutting across party lines raised the issue of non-allocation of room in circuit house to council's acting chairman Arun Kumar during his recent visit to Ara.
Raising the issue, Dilip Choudhary (Congress) said the issue was related to violation of protocol. Choudhary was supported by party members Mahachandra Prasad Singh and Chandan Bagchi. Singh demanded stern action against the officer responsible for the "misconduct".
Joining the issue, Bhim Singh (RJD) said that a privilege motion should be brought against the erring official.
He was supported by senior party leaders Mundrika Singh Yadav and leader of Opposition Ghulam Gaus.Urging the members to maintain order in the House, the working chairman narrated the incident to the members and said that though he had no problems personally yet the matter should be looked into by the government.
Taking note of his observation, deputy CM Sushil Kumar Modi informed the House that government would conduct an inquiry into the incident. He also sought guidelines from the Chair in the matter.
The matter cropped up again in the post-lunch session of the Upper House when minister of revenue and land reforms Ramnath Thakur informed the House that Bhojpur district magistrate appeared before the acting Chairman during lunch break and tendered an apology for the incident. The minister, quoting the DM, said that incident took place due to some communication gap. Thakur, reading out from a written reply, accepted that it was a clear case of violation of warrant of protocol. The Opposition, however, expressed dissatisfaction with the government reply and pressed for initiating a privilege move against the erring official.
Supporting Bhim Singh's move in this regard, leader of Opposition Ghulam Gaus said the Opposition still sticks to its demand of privilege motion.
However, energy minister Bijendra Yadav termed the Opposition demand as unjustified and assured the House that in future the government would ensure strict adherence to the warrant of protocol.
Raising the issue, Dilip Choudhary (Congress) said the issue was related to violation of protocol. Choudhary was supported by party members Mahachandra Prasad Singh and Chandan Bagchi. Singh demanded stern action against the officer responsible for the "misconduct".
Joining the issue, Bhim Singh (RJD) said that a privilege motion should be brought against the erring official.
He was supported by senior party leaders Mundrika Singh Yadav and leader of Opposition Ghulam Gaus.Urging the members to maintain order in the House, the working chairman narrated the incident to the members and said that though he had no problems personally yet the matter should be looked into by the government.
Taking note of his observation, deputy CM Sushil Kumar Modi informed the House that government would conduct an inquiry into the incident. He also sought guidelines from the Chair in the matter.
The matter cropped up again in the post-lunch session of the Upper House when minister of revenue and land reforms Ramnath Thakur informed the House that Bhojpur district magistrate appeared before the acting Chairman during lunch break and tendered an apology for the incident. The minister, quoting the DM, said that incident took place due to some communication gap. Thakur, reading out from a written reply, accepted that it was a clear case of violation of warrant of protocol. The Opposition, however, expressed dissatisfaction with the government reply and pressed for initiating a privilege move against the erring official.
Supporting Bhim Singh's move in this regard, leader of Opposition Ghulam Gaus said the Opposition still sticks to its demand of privilege motion.
However, energy minister Bijendra Yadav termed the Opposition demand as unjustified and assured the House that in future the government would ensure strict adherence to the warrant of protocol.
Sunday, March 9, 2008
Unprecedented human migration and misery due to manmade floods
Preliminary findings of the Fact Finding Team
Nearly 73.06 per cent of the area of Bihar is prone to flooding. It is estimated that about half a million have migrated from the embanked Kosi region alone. In the face of mass exodus from the state, the resumption of flood control embankments aggravates the situation of countrywide condemnation and humiliation that migrant Biharis face. These structures have compelled them to migrate in search of livelihood.
A multidisciplinary 14 member Fact Finding Team has concluded its 8 daylong travel of the flood affected regions of North Bihar wherein it traversed along the embanked parts of Kosi, Kamala, Bhutahi Balan and Baghmati rivers. The visit from March 1-8, 2008, entailed visiting Khagaria, Saharsa, Supaul, Saptari, Kunauli, Kamalpur, Mahadeo Math, Nirmali, Ghoghardiha, Kosi barrage, Runni Saidpur, Sitamarhi, Vaishali and other places.
The manner in which floods have been amazingly sustained in this region despite over five decades of relentless efforts have been the core idea behind this voluntary mission.
Backed by volume of secondary literature but limited primary exposure of ground realities, this team is anguished to conclude that not only are these floods manmade but that the worse is yet to come should the political economy of flood control continue to pivot itself around `temporary embankment' as the only solution to the scourge of floods. The state pretends that it is afflicted by the colossal ignorance regarding the primary function of floodwater--draining out excess water and the fact that no embankment has yet been built or can be built in future that will not breach.
The team is outraged to report that the government's investment of over Rs 1600 crores since the early 1950's has helped increase the flood prone area from 25 lakh hectare during the pre-plan era to over 68.8 lakh hectare today, an unprecedented three-fold increase. Proposed as temporary measure to control floods in the 1950s and having had failed on all fronts, the team is bewildered to note that the business of embankment construction has resumed after a lapse of 17 years with a Rs 792 crores package to tame the Bagmati. There is another proposal to embank the tributaries of Mahananda at an estimated cost of Rs 850 crores. Clearly, the lessons in human misery have not been learnt.
That over 2 million people are permanently trapped between the flood control embankments and an equal number of people faced with acute water logging in the so-called flood protected areas, only exposes the stark failure of the state's democratic governance. The team observed the inevitability of migration due to loss of livelihood that is a consequence of state's benign intervention and its callousness. This exposes the migrant Bihari population to the wrath of perverted political monsters in Assam, Maharasthra, Punjab, and Delhi. Sporadic incidents across the country demonstrate state's collusive inaction. The team is astounded to observe that the state remains a mute spectator to the denial of basic rights of livelihood and instead it accentuates their misery by pretending ignorance about the outdated, tried, tested and failed technology of embankments as if it is caught in a time warp.
The team observed state's arrogance and misplaced faith in engineering that has stopped the natural process of `landbuilding' by these rivers, a process that had ushered in necessary socio-cultural conditions for emergence of `civilisation'. Need it be said that the marriage of natural capital and social capital had made Bihar the apex knowledge center. The total collapse of this knowledge culture within the state is a result of embankment of this capital.
The team notes that 8.36 lakh hectare of land in North Bihar is permanently waterlogged, which is nearly 16 per cent of the North Bihar's total area. Some 8 million people have been directly hit by water logging, earning the state the dubious distinction of being the leading claimant of this kind of manmade submergence. Draining vast stretches of waterlogged land is technologically and financially unfeasible. Can any welfare state afford to keep its most fertile lands under water?
The team witnessed how the poor and the powerless are obviously the main victims. It emerged from the narratives of the villagers that embankments are for the benefit of the contractor politicians and the technocratic development ideology to deal with flood suits them unmindful of the environmental and social mess.
As the embankment lobby has gained momentum once again, the fact that such interventions will raise river levels by several meters, making the land between the embankments uninhabitable for millions of people displacing them for good. The bitter experience of flood control embankments has given birth to a strong sentiment against it.
The team shockingly wondered about the land use change that has adversely affected the ecosystem of the region contributing to the rupture of its carrying capacity. It makes a classic case requiring urgent measures to undo the damages that appear beyond redemption.
The team examined the impact of flood control measures and the trends in consequent losses in the region. The team has inferred that migration is an indicator of the enormity of glaring state failure. Embanjavascript:void(0)
Publish Postkments remain the main loss-determining factor. The team calls for a white paper on the impact of existing embankments.
Those living today in the flood-affected region are promised other ecologically disastrous projects like Barahkshethra Dam and Interlinking of Rivers is like proposing one catastrophe to solve another a la devil and the deep sea.
The observations made by the team are its preliminary findings. The final and detailed report of the Fact Finding Team would be shared in due course.
Nearly 73.06 per cent of the area of Bihar is prone to flooding. It is estimated that about half a million have migrated from the embanked Kosi region alone. In the face of mass exodus from the state, the resumption of flood control embankments aggravates the situation of countrywide condemnation and humiliation that migrant Biharis face. These structures have compelled them to migrate in search of livelihood.
A multidisciplinary 14 member Fact Finding Team has concluded its 8 daylong travel of the flood affected regions of North Bihar wherein it traversed along the embanked parts of Kosi, Kamala, Bhutahi Balan and Baghmati rivers. The visit from March 1-8, 2008, entailed visiting Khagaria, Saharsa, Supaul, Saptari, Kunauli, Kamalpur, Mahadeo Math, Nirmali, Ghoghardiha, Kosi barrage, Runni Saidpur, Sitamarhi, Vaishali and other places.
The manner in which floods have been amazingly sustained in this region despite over five decades of relentless efforts have been the core idea behind this voluntary mission.
Backed by volume of secondary literature but limited primary exposure of ground realities, this team is anguished to conclude that not only are these floods manmade but that the worse is yet to come should the political economy of flood control continue to pivot itself around `temporary embankment' as the only solution to the scourge of floods. The state pretends that it is afflicted by the colossal ignorance regarding the primary function of floodwater--draining out excess water and the fact that no embankment has yet been built or can be built in future that will not breach.
The team is outraged to report that the government's investment of over Rs 1600 crores since the early 1950's has helped increase the flood prone area from 25 lakh hectare during the pre-plan era to over 68.8 lakh hectare today, an unprecedented three-fold increase. Proposed as temporary measure to control floods in the 1950s and having had failed on all fronts, the team is bewildered to note that the business of embankment construction has resumed after a lapse of 17 years with a Rs 792 crores package to tame the Bagmati. There is another proposal to embank the tributaries of Mahananda at an estimated cost of Rs 850 crores. Clearly, the lessons in human misery have not been learnt.
That over 2 million people are permanently trapped between the flood control embankments and an equal number of people faced with acute water logging in the so-called flood protected areas, only exposes the stark failure of the state's democratic governance. The team observed the inevitability of migration due to loss of livelihood that is a consequence of state's benign intervention and its callousness. This exposes the migrant Bihari population to the wrath of perverted political monsters in Assam, Maharasthra, Punjab, and Delhi. Sporadic incidents across the country demonstrate state's collusive inaction. The team is astounded to observe that the state remains a mute spectator to the denial of basic rights of livelihood and instead it accentuates their misery by pretending ignorance about the outdated, tried, tested and failed technology of embankments as if it is caught in a time warp.
The team observed state's arrogance and misplaced faith in engineering that has stopped the natural process of `landbuilding' by these rivers, a process that had ushered in necessary socio-cultural conditions for emergence of `civilisation'. Need it be said that the marriage of natural capital and social capital had made Bihar the apex knowledge center. The total collapse of this knowledge culture within the state is a result of embankment of this capital.
The team notes that 8.36 lakh hectare of land in North Bihar is permanently waterlogged, which is nearly 16 per cent of the North Bihar's total area. Some 8 million people have been directly hit by water logging, earning the state the dubious distinction of being the leading claimant of this kind of manmade submergence. Draining vast stretches of waterlogged land is technologically and financially unfeasible. Can any welfare state afford to keep its most fertile lands under water?
The team witnessed how the poor and the powerless are obviously the main victims. It emerged from the narratives of the villagers that embankments are for the benefit of the contractor politicians and the technocratic development ideology to deal with flood suits them unmindful of the environmental and social mess.
As the embankment lobby has gained momentum once again, the fact that such interventions will raise river levels by several meters, making the land between the embankments uninhabitable for millions of people displacing them for good. The bitter experience of flood control embankments has given birth to a strong sentiment against it.
The team shockingly wondered about the land use change that has adversely affected the ecosystem of the region contributing to the rupture of its carrying capacity. It makes a classic case requiring urgent measures to undo the damages that appear beyond redemption.
The team examined the impact of flood control measures and the trends in consequent losses in the region. The team has inferred that migration is an indicator of the enormity of glaring state failure. Embanjavascript:void(0)
Publish Postkments remain the main loss-determining factor. The team calls for a white paper on the impact of existing embankments.
Those living today in the flood-affected region are promised other ecologically disastrous projects like Barahkshethra Dam and Interlinking of Rivers is like proposing one catastrophe to solve another a la devil and the deep sea.
The observations made by the team are its preliminary findings. The final and detailed report of the Fact Finding Team would be shared in due course.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)