Lalu Prasad's Gift to Chhapra

Railway Minister Lalu Prasad presented his achievements in the Railway Budget on 26th February.

The Indian Railways in its ''historic'' profit-making binge has been ''kicking one 'Goal' after another (creating records) and every child in the country is today cheering 'Chak De railway, Prasad said in his budget speech.

''We have not only shown dreams but turned them into reality...... 'Mungeri Lal ke Haseen Sapne' (Mungeri Lal's sweet dreams) have been turned into reality and are being implemented,'' he said, amid laughter and applause from all sides.

As Prasad's speech progressed and was later disrupted by angry protests from members from several parties including Congress and supporting Left members, his daughters and a son-in-law witnessed his performance in rapt attention from the Speaker's Gallery.

Discussion with Sonia Gandhi

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi and Leader of Opposition L K Advani were present in the House. Before delivering his two-hour long speech, Prasad was seen in discussion with Gandhi.

Prior to the disruptions, Prasad announced a train between Chhapra, his constituency, and Mathura, saying he could now go directly to the abode of Lord Krishna.

When some MPs complained that the translation system was not working, Prasad told them ''I will translate this for you'' and explained a Hindi couplet in English. ''We have sowed a tree and now it is my duty to ensure that fruits can grow,'' he said.

Finance Minister P Chidambaram, whose seat is adjacent to that of the Railway Minister on the front row, was seen sitting behind, apparently to make space for Prasad to deliver his budget address.

There will be a weekly train from Patna in Bihar to Vasco da Gama in Goa. The train will run on the Konkan railway tracks.

Gaya in Bihar, where Buddha is said to have achieved enlightenment, will be linked with a weekly express train to Chennai in Tamil Nadu.

In the last budget, Prasad had announced setting up of a coach factory in his Lok Sabha constituency, Chhapra, introduction of Garib Rath (a no-frills air-conditioned train), besides increasing the frequency of 50-odd trains crossing Bihar in the last four years.

Earlier, Nitish Kumar, Chief Minister urged Lalu to accord top priority to implement all the pending projects in Bihar. He said the railway projects which were pending for the last four years, if implemented would benefit the people of the state.
"Usually, Lalu resorts to tricks and raise fares indirectly by altering the rules," Kumar charged and sarcastically remarked "Lalu gives from one hand, takes the benefits back from another."


Kumar, who himself had been the Railway minister during the NDA regime, said that it was only after some time people come to realise that they had been taken for a ride in the name of reduction of fare or freight cost.

On Lalu's promises to present attractive railway budget from the point of view of common man's interests, Kumar alleged that Lalu was making promises only to get approving thumping of desks on the floor of parliament.

Mauritius PM in Harigaon

The Prime Minister(PM)of Mauritius, 60-year-old Navinchandra Ramgoolam set foot on his native village, Harigaon, for the first time in his life. The entire hamlet as also thousands of people from neighbouring areas assembled to have a glimpse of the man whose grandfather had been taken to Mauritius over 130 years ago as an indentured labourer.

An emotional Ramgoolam, eyes welled and voice choked, said, "Man gadgad ho gayil, aankh me aansu bhar gayil" (I am extremely delighted and my eyes are tearful)," to the jubilant crowd, which had gathered near the pond named as Moheeth Sarovar, in the memory of his grandfather, Moheeth Ramgoolam.

Accompanied by wife, Veena Brizmohun, other family members and his entourage, Ramgoolam, serving his second term as PM of the island nation, paid homage to his ancestors. Greeting the villagers, he said, "Hamra aap se janam janam ka rishta ba. Main Bihar ka hoon. Bhojpuri parivar ka hoon. Dada ka kul yahi gaon me ba (I have been sharing relations with you for generations. I am a Bihari. I belong to Bhojpur. The descendents of my grandfather are living in this village." A helicopter carrying Ramgoolam descended on the helipad some three km from Harigaon. The moment he arrived on the dais, there was a roar of applause and cheering from the waiting crowd.

Looking around, Ramgoolam seemed overwhelmed and recalled with pride how his grandfather and other girmitiya labourers journeyed to and worked in Mauritius under trying conditions. "Hamar dada Bihar se Mauritius gaye to kuchh nahi tha.

Par apni shakti se, khoon se, pasina se itna kiya ke hum aaj is jagah par hain (When my grandfather sailed to Mauritius, there was nothing in Mauritius. It is because of his sweat and blood that I am holding this post)," he said.

He also taught a lesson to his villagers. "Always remember this and never think that your father has become weak," he told them and hoped that villagers and people of Bihar would prosper like Mauritius. He also reiterated his announcement to give US$ 2.5 lakh for the development of this village and scholorship to two Bihari students in the University of Mauritius before concluding his speech with "Jai Bihar, Jai Bharat, Jai Mauritius". The administration made elaborate arrangmeent right from Ara, the Bhojpur district headquarter, 15 km to the village. Harigaon presented a new look with villagers dressed in their fineries occupying each corner of the ground, with some carrying flags of India and Mauritius.

Earlier, Ramgoolam laid the foundation for upgradation of three projects: Moheeth Sarovar, Sir Seewoosagur Ramgoolam high school and Navinchandra Ramgoolam hospital. CM Nitish Kumar said like Moheeth Ramgoolam, thousands of Biharis go to other places in search of job and they work hard wherever they go. "Biharis will not be at the mercy of anybody anywhere, whether it is Maharashtra of Assam." He called upon people to rise above caste, religion and region and work unitedly for the progress of Bihar.

Mayawati in Patna

The Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati's rally in Patna at the historical Gandhi maidan is eying Bihar. Mayawati landed in a helicopter.

On one hand where RJD chief Lalu Prasad has hailed Mayawati's rally in the state, LJP chief Ram Vilas Paswan is not ready to allow any intrusions into his home turf. Paswan has said that Maya's magic will not work in Bihar.

The rally is meant to unite underprivileged and extremely poor people in the state to give "a befitting reply to those in the power putting hurdles in the way of their uplift".

The BSP's rally comes after opposition RJD and Lok Janshakti Party held rallies in October and November last year here seeking to highlight the alleged failure of the Nitish Kumar government in Bihar.

It was at the Gandhi Maidan that Jaiprakash Narayan had made the historic call for a “Total Revolution” in 1974.

When contacted, District Magistrate, Patna, B Rajendra said that the request for landing the chopper inside Gandhi Maidan was made citing the twin factors of “security” and “time.” “For security reasons and also to save time, the request for landing the UP Government chopper inside Gandhi Maidan was made and we granted it”, Rajendra said. He said that the UP Chief Minister will reach Patna airport by a state aircraft and then board a state chopper to land at the maidan.

CM Nitish Kumar strongly refuted the security factor and pointed out that convenience might have led her to decide to land in the maidan. “So far as security is concerned, I can say with authority that the state Government is competent to safeguard any VIP. But if somebody wants to land at the maidan for convenience, then what can we do”, said Kumar.

Mauritius PM’s rural roots on radar

A little-known village in Bihar has found fame and is set for a facelift as it has been officially identified as the native place of former Mauritius prime minister Sir Seewoosagur Ramgoolam. Harigaon in Bhojpur district, about 60 km from here, was like any other village in rural Bihar without roads, electricity connection and a health centre.

The Bihar government will now develop it as a model village with basic infrastructure and turn it into a historical place to attract tourists, particularly from Mauritius.

Ahead of Mauritius Prime Minister Navinchandra Ramgoolam's visit to the village Feb 19, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar with top officials went to the village Saturday, and announced a spate of measures including construction of roads, a hospital, a school and other basic facilities.

'Nitish Kumar visited Harigaon to take stock of the amenities available in the village before the Mauritius prime minister's visit,' a senior official of the Chief Minister's Office.

Nitish Kumar has invited Navinchandra Ramgoolam to visit his ancestors' village. Navinchandra Ramgoolam will also unveil a statue of Seewoosagur Ramgoolam in the heart of Patna.

Late Seewoosagur Ramgoolam was prime minister of Mauritius from 1961 to 1982. He is considered the father of the nation as he led his country to independence from Britain.

According to experts, his grandfather was one of the hundreds labourers from different villages across Bihar forcibly taken by the British to work in Malaysian sugarcane plantations in 1871.

A large number of people from Bihar travelled to various parts of the world, including Mauritius, in the 19th century to serve as indentured labourers - sometimes referred to as girmitiya - in sugarcane and rubber plantations.

Most of them were from districts like Bhojpur, Chapra, Gopalganj and East and West Champaran.

About 60 percent of the 1.2 million population of Mauritius is of Indian origin, a large number of them from Bihar with Bhojpuri as their mother tongue.

Before Nitish Kumar gets ready to receive the Prime Minister of Mauritius, Navinchandra Ramgoolam, to unveil his father and predecessor, Seewoosagur Ramgoolam’s, statue — he better settle the controversy over the PM’s rural roots first.

Though the chief minister today clarified that according to the Prime Minister himself, Hargaon, in central Bihar’s Bhojpur district, is Ramgoolam family’s ancestral village, people from as many as three other villages in Sahabad district have staked their claim of being the “original” birthplace of the Ramgoolam family.

Nitish stressed that his office had received a communiqué from the Mauritius government that clearly stated that “Hargaon under Bihian paragana in Bhojpur district” was Ramgoolam’s ancestral village. However, villagers of Chhauttupur, especially one Deonarayan Ojha, yesterday sent a fax to the Mauritius Embassy at New
Delhi stating that Seewoosagur Ramgoolam was “the son of one Swayamvar Ojha who had been taken as a bonded labourer to the island nation in 1871 by the British”.

The document also has an “inquiry report” conducted by local civil officials appended with it. Also appended, is a report of a janata darbar that Buxar district magistrate organised to pronounce Chhauttupur as Seewoosagur Ramgoolam’s “original home” on November 18, 2007.

On the other hand, residents of Barka Singhanpura in Buxar are also claiming to know the Ramgoolam family. In 2007 they handed a packet of soil, from land where a deity worshipped by Ramgoolam’s family and the villagers is kept, to Nitish. The chief minister handed the packet of soil to Navinchandra Ramgoolam.

Then there is Keshopur in Buxar. Villagers there have staked their claim on the Ramgoolam family as well. They too have faxed letters to the Mauritius Embassy in New Delhi to support their claim.

Last year when the chief minister visited Mauritius, he had formally invited Prime Minister Navinchandra Ramgoolam to unveil the life-size statue of his father and Mauritius’s first Prime Minister in February 2008.

At that time, Navinchandra Ramgoolam reportedly showed keen interest to find out more of his family’s roots. Though Seewoosagur Ramgoolam never visited “his village”, his son wishes to do so.

And since he is ready to offer financial help to boost development in his ancestral land, it’s not going to hurt to be a part of the Ramgoolam root, either. Thus, claimants are not ready to step down.

“We are in touch with the Mauritius Embassy and will request Navinchandra to visit Chhauttupur and not go by false claims,” said Deonarayan Ojha.

Bihar ranked 35th in education

ELEMENTARY EDUCATION REPORT

60% schools lack Toilets

Statesman News Service

NEW DELHI, Jan. 27: In about 60 per cent of primary and upper primary schools of the country, girl students have to share a common toilet with boys.

According to the latest statistics on "Elementary Education in India", prepared by the National University of Educational Planning and Administration, the percentage of schools with provision for separate girls toilets is less than 25 in 10 states.

These include Arunachal Pradesh (12.16) Assam (10.02), Bihar (16.21), Chhattisgarh (13.33), Jammu and Kashmir (20.03), Jharkhand (15.46), Manipur (17.86), Meghalaya (8.76), Mizoram (21.32) and Tripura (21.12). The states where the percentage of schools with separate toilets for girls is more than 75 per cent include Delhi (89.01), Haryana (76.19), Kerala (76.89), Puducherri (84.88), Punjab (80.88) and Uttar Pradesh (78.20).
The percentage of such schools is 31 in West Bengal.

According to data received from about 1.20 million schools spread across 609 districts of 35 states and Union Territories, about 30 per cent of schools in the country are still without pucca buildings and about 14 per cent schools have no drinking water facility. The overall percentage of schools having computers is 13.43 per cent.

Students in aided and unaided private schools have a greater number of teachers, compared to those studying in government schools. While the average number of teachers per government school is 3.7, it is 8.5 and 6.5 in private aided and private un-aided schools, respectively.

The number of teachers who are untrained professionally is close to 22 per cent.

But 44.88 per cent of para-teachers, who form about 7.86 per cent of the total teachers at primary and upper primary schools in the country, are professionally untrained.

According to the document titled "Flash Statistics: Elementary Education in India: Progress towards Universal Elementary Education (UEE) 2006-07," Delhi tops the educational developmental index (EDI) for primary level and is ranked first.

Puducherri is second, Kerala is at No. 3, Bihar at 35, Jharkhand at 34, Uttar Pradesh at 24, West Bengal at 30 and Arunachal Pradesh at 33.

At the upper primary level, however, Kerala is on top, followed by Puducherri, Tamil Nadu and Chandigarh.

Like the primary level, Bihar and Jharkhand are respectively ranked 35th and 34th at the upper primary levels of education also.

For composite primary and upper primary education, Kerala is ranked first followed by Puducherri, Delhi and Tamil Nadu.

Bihar and Jharkhand are ranked 35th and 34th, respectively.

In 2005-06, Kerala was also ranked first for composite primary and upper primary levels of education. Delhi, however, which ranked second in 2005-06 moved to third position in 2006-07.

Koilwar railway bridge pregnant with disastrous possibility

Koilwar bridge in the Bhojpur district of Bihar was built by the British in 1862, on river Sone growing weaker because of loss of strength of its foundation pillars due to unabated illegal sand mining in the vicinity of bridge.



The Railways have put this bridge on Sone, the only direct link between Patna and Delhi and the mainline's Howrah end, under the scanner and put a speed restriction on the movement of trains on the bridge.

In February 2002, the Mines Department had moved a file to the Chief Secretary pointing out that a Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) cabinet minister was engaged in illegal mining of sand near koilwar.

Secretary of the department had seized a truck loaded with Sone-sand collected from the sone river.

The surveyor of the state directorate of mines had pleaded that the truck belonged to a minister and, therefore, it should be allowed to pass through the check posts. The RJD minister had claimed that Khandiya Ghat sand mine belonged to him. The surveyor was suspended and case him was recommended.

The secretary had also written about the role of "powerful politicians involved in the illegal mining of sand" in the Sone river belt, which can create law and order problems.

This has led to huge loss of revenue in Bhojpur, Chapra and Patna districts due to illegal mining. The revenue collection target has not been met and there has been steep fall in revenue that is attributed to failure of the government to tender sand mining and pave way for legal mining.

State Mines and Minerals Development Corporation did not venture to participate in the bid for sand mining. The state Mines Ministry had referred the matter to the Finance Department. Ideally, District Magistrates should have invited the tender since DMs are empowered to call the tender under rules framed in 1972.

After bifurcation, sand is the only material left in the mining department through which it can hope to raise the collection but "powerful politicians" have been deemed a hurdle.

The illegal mining in Sone over here threatens the bridge and seems to be waiting for disaster.

Has the state of affairs changed under the Janata Dal United (JD)[U]led alliance government?

In the case of disaster, do we know who is responsible and who will be held accountable. Or after the disater once again, Ministry of Railways will anounce ex-gratia with setting matters right in consultation with the state government. For a change, this dereliction of duty would involve both RJD and JD(U).

Jan Nayak Karpoori Thakur Birth Anniversary

Jan Nayak Karpoori Thakur was born on 24th January, 1924 in a village in Samastipur District of Bihar in a downtrodden wage earner family. From the days of his student life, he was interested in social upliftment of the weak and the poor. While doing his graduation, he left college to join Quit India Movement on the call of Mahatma Gandhi. As an ardent activist of freedom movement, he had to undergo rigorous imprisonment for 26 months. Even after independence he courted imprisonment several times in pursuance of various public causes relating particularly to upliftment and social equality of weaker segments of the society.

Karpoori Thakur was the first non-Congress CM of Bihar and, after Jayaprakash Narayan, he is considered the real champion of the cause of the dalits and the poor. He had opted to marry off his daughter at his native village. Karpoori Thakur had warned all his officials that if any of them was even found near the marriage site or engaged in making preparations for the ceremony, action would be taken against them. He had not even informed his Cabinet colleagues about the marriage. When some of them, getting wind of the marriage, offered help, he said, "It is the marriage of the daughter of Karpoori Thakur and not the daughter of a CM." A close assistant of the late Thakur says that he had incurred a total expenditure of Rs 10,000-11,000 on the wedding in the mid-seventies, while rough estimates put the entire expenditure on Laloo’s daughter’s marriage at Rs 3/4 crore.

Interestingly, when the then DM of Karpoori Thakur’s home district rushed to the CM’s side a day before the marriage, he was told to go back and attend to his official duties.

As political lobbying for Bhara Ratna hots up, there are demands being made to bestow posthumously the highest civilian honour on former Bihar Chief Minister Karpuri Thakur. Thakur was twice chief minister of the state -- first from December 1970 to June 1971 and then later from June 1977 to April 1979.

In the early years after independence he served as a Teacher in the Middle School of his village. From 1952 till his demise, he was a member of Bihar Vidhan Sabha except for a short span in 1977 when he was a member of Lok Sabha. From a school teacher, he rose to become a Minister, a Deputy Chief Minister and ultimately the Chief Minister of Bihar State, a portfolio he held twice. He was also National President of Samyukta Socialist Party.

A staunch socialist, the spirit of socialism was the sheet anchor of his political career.He imparted a multidimensional character to the labour and peasant movement. He was arrested while leading hundreds of P & T employees during the historical general strike of the Central Government in 1960. He was on fast unto death for 28 days to press for the cause of Telco labourers in 1970.During the emergency period he led the movement of' Total Revolution' fearlessly and faithfully from underground hideouts. He was a dedicated votary of Hindi. He did away with the compulsive learning of English as a subject from matriculation curriculum. As Chief Minister, he enforced total prohibition in Bihar State. He also introduced reservation in Government jobs for backward classes in 1978.

He established a number of schools and colleges in backward and neglected areas of Bihar with public cooperation. A shining symbol of simplicity humility, integrity and duty, he devoted his life to the cause of social transformation. He fought against exploitation and injustice in society. As a luminary of socialist movement, he occupied a distinguished place in the country's politics. His premature death on 18th February, 1988 has created a void in public and political life which is felt even today by all sections of the society.


Sr No Chief minister's name and party Became CM in


1 Sri Krishna Sinha Jan 1946 Jan 1961 Congress

2 Deep Narayan Singh Feb 1961 Feb 1961 Congress

3 Binodanand Jha Feb 1961 Oct 1963 Congress

4 Krishana Vallabh Sahay Oct 1963 March 1967 Congress

5 Mahamaya Pd Sinha March 1967 Jan 1968 Jan Kranti Dal

6 Satish Prasad Singh Jan 1968 Feb 1968 Congress

7 B. P. Mandal Feb. 1st 1968 Feb. 22nd 1968 Congress

8 Bhola Paswan Shashtri Feb 1968 June 1968 Congress(O)

9 Harihar Singh Feb 1969 June 1969 Congress

10 Bhola Paswan Shashtri [2] June 1969 July 1969 Congress (O)

11 Daroga Prasad Rai Feb 1970 Dec 1970 Congress

12 Karpuri Thakur Dec 1970 June 1971 Socialist Party

13 Bhola Paswan Shashtri [3] June 1971 Jan 1972 Congress

14 Kedar Pandey March 1972 Jan 1973 Congress

15 Abdul Gafoor July 1973 April 1975 Congress

16 Dr.Jagannath Mishra April 1975 April 1977 Congress

17 Karpuri Thakur [2] June 1977 April 1979 Janta Party

18 Ram Sunder Das April 1979 Feb 1980 Janta party

19 Dr.Jagannath Mishra [2] June 1980 April 1983 Congress (I)

20 Chandrashekhar Singh Aug 1983 March 1985 Congress (I)

21 Bindeshwari Dubey March 1985 Feb 1988 Congress (I)

22 Bhagwat Jha Azad Feb 1988 March 1989 Congress (I)

23 Satyendra Narayan Sinha March 1989 Dec 1989 Congress (I)

24 Dr.Jagannath Mishra [3] Dec 1989 March 1990 Congress (I)

25 Laloo Prasad Yadav March 1990 March 1995 Janata Dal

26 Laloo Prasad Yadav [2] April 1995 July 1997 Rashtriya Janta Dal

27 Rabri Devi July 1997 Feb 1999 Rashtriya Janta Dal

28 Rabri Devi [2] March 1999 March 2000 Rashtriya Janata Dal

29 Nitish Kumar March 3rd 2000 March 10th 2000 Janata Dal (United)

30 Rabri Devi [3] March 2000 Feb 2005 Rashtriya Janata Dal

31 Nitish Kumar [2] Nov 24th 2005 Present Janata Dal (United)