Year End but Bihar remains where it was

Seems like Bihar has progressed a lot in the last 6-7 years. People say, it could be possible only because of the incumbent chief minister. He brought a sense of security within people, got so many new educational institutions opened like CNLU, CIMP & IITP, created the much needed infrastructure, opened up the tourism sector to en extent now that Patna's Ganga ghat boasts of a small boat cum restaurant, new malls are being opened, established Right to Service, automated almost all of the state government departments, so, hence, a bright shining light is being bestowed upon Bihar's territory. I don't think people have been wrong anyways. Had they not experienced all this, why would they vote for the incumbent CM & his party with such a huge majority. Even I believe, although haven't visited the state for too long barring a small stint last year, that it is all true. At least, that is what my heart keeps pounding upon me, to accept. But the conflict raised by my mind is no less distressing. Now lets look at some of the facts because of which my mind keeps challenging my heart.

1. Bihar's security environment has improved so much that from the period of 2005 to 2010, there has been a rise of 60% in the kidnappings. Largely, the kidnapped people, mainly children, are being killed mercilessly in the absence of the ransom being paid. You may not want to believe me, hence, request you to look at the Bihar Police's website. Twist to the story comes when even the MLA's & MP's are threatned openly thru mobile messages. One must admit, though, that a lot of big criminals are behind bars but what's worrying is that the crime is still on the streets. Makes one believe that only the location has changed & really nothing else. Key Takeaway: What you see is not always the truth
2. New colleges have been opened like CNLU, CIMP & IITP, with a view to encourage students to take up higher studies within the state itself. AMU is in the offing. This is highly appreciated of the government. But the problem comes when one finds that most of the engineering colleges within the state have absolutely no faculty, be it MIT, Muzzafarpur or BEC, Bhagalpur. This said less, students of the CNLU had to go on a strike to attract the CM's attention on the ground situation where they had lost, almost all hopes to find a campus placement. Nalanda was to start but seldom when finds it ever starting given the current state within which it finds itself today. Key Takeaway: Educational Institutions are not established merely by giving away 100 & 200 acres of land. They are made by much desired learned faculty.
3. Infrastructure is created almost everywhere. Roads have connected the villages. As I had indicated, last year I was in Gopalganj, my home district. To my surprise, the road leading to my village was much better 10 years back, than it is today. Anyways, one instance can't be a benchmark of the overall development. So how has it helped? People now have connectivity, they don't have to face the hardships but till the time it generates any income for them, it is of no use. People from Bihar are still migrating. Power sector wa another focus area of the government. So many new deals were signed with NTPC & others. Eventually result is that the cities & villages are still in the same darkness as they used to be. Reasons could be many for their not functioning properly but that remains as a fact today. Such is IT policy that none, absolutely none of the top Indian IT companies still think to make Patna as their hub. You may also find an interesting fact that Bihar engineers come second only to Delhi when it come to employability of good students in the IT/ITES sector based on survey done by Gurgaon based Aspiring Minds. Even after so much is being done, as claimed by the state government, Bihar Planning Commission advisor, Mr Saxena minces no words when he claims that Bihar has been one of the most laggard states to implement various schemes because of which it has forefeited the central subsidy of almost Rs 10,000 crores annually.  Key Takeaway: More than the paperwork, need is to realize the development on the ground for the benefit of people.
4. Right to Service has been created but still the RTI activists are being killed left-right-center. One may argue why are you linking these two things. Tell me, why shouldn't I? An RTI activist would only be killed if he is unearthing Corruption. Corruption can only happen if a service is not being provided to the people correctly / rightly / transparently. Key Takeaway: Point was not to create a law to enforce the executives to service the people. Idea should have been to implement the existing plans effectively. It's part of anyone's job to, at least, do his job. I mean that's why one gets paid, right.

So bright light is really being bestowed upon Bihar but the biggest of all is that Bihar's media sees this light more than anyone else. They see it so much, generally in the dark though, that they leave no stone unturned to write the growing development story of Bihar in their papers, news channels, magazines, almost every day. Issue is they are also made to see this light because if they don't see it, they may not be able to get their salaries from their patrons who are running the channels & the new papers, why? well, for that you will need to read thru the government's expenditure on ads that it runs on various news papers & media channels -:).
So towards the year end, Bihar has grown leaps & bounds & if the story continues the same way, day is not far when Nitish will repeat a Lalu saga with shining Bihar.

Published in Patnadaily.com: http://www.patnadaily.com/index.php/opinions/readers-write/6781-year-ends-but-bihar-remains-where-it-was.html

Jai Bihar

Upcoming Entrepreneurs in Bihar & their Plight

Nitish is the Politician of the year. He also won the Business award from a leading news channel. what else, he is on top of the world but he forgot what is happening just at the backyard of his high profile meetings with businessmen from various industries & across the globe to attract the investors. He is quick to come on a forum & request for investments but has he or his finance minister, Mr Modi ever bothered to ask the entrepreneurs how they are coping with the local administration. It's not that people don't know about it but let me just put that in a perspective. The intent of this blog is not to really take the , whatever, success away of Nitish's achievement, in the last few years, as the CM of Bihar but just an insight of how the young entrepreneurs feel & why is it necessary for him to first listen to them, then, to blow his trumpet all over the world to get more investments into his state.

Gyaneshwar Pandey’s Views (CEO, Husk Power System)

Journalist: So what was the problem?
GP: The cops! I am yet to pay a penny of protection money to goons and nobody has dared to ask me for a bribe, but the police in Bihar are apathetic. So, when someone is trying to steal the electricity we generate, the cops will just look on. My staff, who try and stop the theft, suffer verbal abuse and manhandling. And that is a serious impediment.

Journalist: What is your biggest learning from your years in Bihar?
GP: Differentiate between perception and reality. It isn’t as if the law and order situation is completely normal. Yes, roads have been built, but the government now needs to think ahead and get investments that will be a catalyst for industry and entrepreneurship.

Source: http://business.in.com/interview/close-range/in-bihar-cops-are-the-problem-not-goons/25672/1#ixzz1OdTCbZIi


Kaushalendra’s Views (Kaushalya Foundation)

He gave another example of the Madhya Bihar Gramin Bank's (MBGB) Kankarbagh branch in Patna not disbursing a loan amount.

"It sanctioned a loan for nine AC carts to our nine vendors under the government scheme but they are not disbursing the amount...what I have been able to understand is that the bank is looking for some under-the-table dealing that we never do or promote," the bespectacled youth said.

"The bank always procrastinates on this issue. The manufacturer of the cart is sitting on my head and we are finding ourselves helpless," Kaushlendra added.

"A cheque of Rs.20,000 was deposited in my company account three months back and it has not been credited till date. When we inquired Jan 27 and sent a person to the State Bank of India branch in Hilsa in Nalanda district, we were astonished to find they have debited it to another's account Dec 15, 2010. And till date they have not sent the amount to my bank in Patna," he rued.

"There are many small things that impede the growth of an entrepreneur in Bihar. We cannot compete with entrepreneurs of other states because other support services come at huge indirect and direct costs," Kaushlendra, a topper of the IIM-A's 2007 batch, told IANS in an interview.

Source: http://www.bihartimes.in/Newsbihar/2011/Feb/Newsbihar01Feb2.html


Irfan’s Story (SammaN Foundation)

The young chairman-cum-managing director of Samman Foundation, Irfan Alam, who was last year invited by none else but the United States President Barack Husain Obama had to spent his night in police lock up after he was arrested following a dispute with a software engineer.

What came as a big shock is that Irfan, and three of his associates had to spend night in lock up on the charge of kidnapping when the truth is that the engineer, who alleged that he was assaulted, was recovered from the very office of the Samman Foundation.

Source: http://www.bihartimes.in/Newsbihar/2011/May/Newsbihar15May1.html


Shajendra Bihari Singh’s Story (Russian NRI Businessman)

A non- resident Indian ( NRI) entrepreneur from Bihar got a taste of brute police power in his home state when he and his aged father were beaten up by a probationer IPS officer.

Sajendra Bihari Singh, who runs a restaurant in Russia, accused Jehanabad's assistant superintendent of police ( ASP) Vivek Kumar of assaulting him and his father Brij Bihari Singh while they were driving to their village on Sunday.

Singh, a native of Dharhara in Patna district, alleged he was assaulted and kept in detention for several hours just because he " dared to overtake the officer's vehicle". This gentleman had flown all over from Russia to do something for his home state given that a new state administration had taken over calling people to come forward & do something for their state.

Source: http://www.thebihar.com/bihar-news/asp-who-beat-up-nri-made-sp/

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This may be as a result of the capitalistic overturns being seen in Bihar as against a complete social state for the last 3 decades. But what would you say when a person like Anand Kumar, founder of Super 30, faces death threats from the local education mafia. He had to apply to the govt of Bihar to get security from himself. If he, being a Social educationist, who works for poor students, can face such challenges, then entrepreneurs, be cautious & enter at your own risk.

Jai Bihar

Inter-linking of Rivers, A very Good Initiative by Nitish Kumar

Patna: The Nitish Kumar government has embarked on an ambitious plan to interlink rivers to solve the perennial flood problem and augment irrigation facilities.


Ground work has already started on eight projects, of which five relate to tackling of floods, two to create additional irrigation facility and the last a hydel power plant, the state water resource department's principal secretary Afjal Amanullah said.

Amanullah said that the first such project envisaging interlinking of the Burhi Gandak river with Noon, Baya and Ganga rivers would start by mid-2011-12.

The total estimated cost for the project is above 4 billion and it will come in handy in optimally utilising its water resources, Bihar Water Resources Minister Vijay Chaudhary said.
"The pre-feasibility report for the project is ready and a Detailed Project Report is being prepared by the National Water Development Authority," Chaudhary said. Another project at hand is the interlinking of the Koshi and Mechi rivers which will create additional irrigation facilities in Supaul, Saharsa, Araria, Kishanganj and Purnia. A sum of Rs. 4441.82 crore would be spent on the scheme, he said. In north Bihar, the projects lined up are Budhi Gandak-Non-Baya-Ganga link, Koshi-Bagmati link, Bagmati-Budhi Gandak link and Kohra-Chandrawat link, Chaudhary said. The Koshi-Mechi link project has been conceived for irrigation purpose and the National Water Development Agency has been asked to prepare the detailed project report (DPR) in this regard. The construction of the Budhi Gandak-Baya project may start in the financial year 2011-12 as the 13th Finance Commission sanctioned Rs. 333 crore for the purpose, the minister said.

Similarly, the state government has taken up two river-linking projects in south Bihar aimed at creating additional irrigation facility which are: Dhanaraje-Phulwaria link and Sakri-Nata link, Chaudhary said.

Noting that the DPRs of the two river-linking projects in south Bihar are in the final stages, he said that the execution of the projects might start in 2011-12.

The state government also formulated new irrigation projects under which a second barrage will be constructed at Areraj on river Gandak, while irrigation and water recession projects will also come up at Bagmati and Mokama Taal regions, Chaudhary said.

The availability of per capita water per year has been steadily going down since 1991 in the country and the figure in case of Bihar was more alarming, the minister cautioned.

The people of the state faced a stark prospect of availability of less than 1000 cubic meter per capita by 2015 as against the corresponding figure of 1594 in 2001.

Read more at: http://www.ndtv.com/article/india/bihar-launches-ambitious-river-linking-projects-110016?pfrom=home-India

Quality of Bihar Teachers

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FViBJg6X_24
This is just amazing. Also read my blog below on the same topic.

After Manoje Nath was shunted, Irfan now arrested & assualted

I had written a bit about Manoje Nath when he was shunted couple of years back. After that, it was a DySP, Vivek Kumar, who had severely beaten up a Russian NRI who had come down to Bihar for investing in hotel business. Now it is Irfan who was arrested along with his colleauges, beaten up & later released from lock up on the charges of abducting a person to whom, as Irfan claims, had given advance money to create a site for his business. As the story unfolds, it was a charge of abduction & intent of murdering Navendu, the abductee in question, against Irfan. Hope you remember Irfan. He is the same Irfan, an IIM graduate, who was invited by US President Barack Obama some time back & had won the Business Bazigar award.

The intent of writing here about Irfan is not about trying to convince you whether Irfan is right or wrong. The bigger question is if Irfan was indeed wrong & whatever he did was for the illful purpose of abduction & murder, why the bloody hell the Bihar police released him the very next day instead of filing a criminal charge against him & sending him to the Jail, why is he not produced before the court. Where are the defendants? Navendu had left his house at 1.30 pm for Irfan's office. His father called up the police at around 4.30 pm to register that his son, Navendu, has been abducted. First how did he know that he was abducted at the first place? Just 3 hrs had elapsed. That's quite a common thing. It was also not the case that Navendu was called late in the night. He was pretty much called up in the afternoon. If Irfan had the motive to murder, he would hire goons, why the hell on this earth would he want to do it himself. Even he wanted to, he would, why would he make Navendu sit in office? To wait for the police to come & find him out? I also wonder, Police was able to make out that since the person has not returned within 3 hrs, he would have been abducted while the procedures clearly state that a missing complaint can be registered only after 24 hrs of disappearence. In this case, it was not even disappearence. It was a well known fact that Navendu was with Irfan.

However as the story unfolds a bit further, the Bihar police says, it was the DySp, who had gone to Irfan's office, was misbehaved with. Oh ho, so the point is all about EGO issue again. So there was no question of any abduction & murder rather the DySP's ego that had been chased to death. What is the definition of this mis-behaving. As far as I know the police, it could have been nomore than talking to them at a higher pitch. When I say higher pitch, it just denotes that Irfan may have tried questionning them? That's it. That's more than enough for the Police to take it personally because essentially they know everything. Did he slap the DySP, did he push him, or whatever, these are certain things are are yet to be answered but it doesn't like any different than what DySP Vivek Kumar did with the other NRI too. NRI's car had just taken over DySP's official vehicle. That was enough to incite the DySP. The NRI was beaten up black & Blue. The DYSP went un-punished. Not just that very soon he was promoted to the rank of SP. That's Bihar Police & its administration for you.

The other reason why I tied to create a paralle with Manoje Nath's case is not because the cases are related rather to showcase the type of administration that is being run in Bihar. Every thing that looks hunky-dory from outside actually is not. BSEB chief can go unpunished even after scams upon scams but Bihar is shining. Media takes a minute to put Nitish on the world map for his progressive thought but why was that, just for making roads or re-selling the Sugar mills? Why didn't the national media cover this incident? Infact media won't showcase anything that is bad in Bihar because the star media manager Nitish keeps this departent in his portfolio. If you want to learn how much was spent by Nitish on advertisements & how he keeps control on the media, pl refer this link -- http://www.bihartimes.in/Newsbihar/2011/May/Newsbihar10May1.html.
Students of CNLU are on strike because of no campus placements however the dean has the guts to say that all have been placed & its site keeps beaming about its stature. CIMP has been placed amongst the top 20 management institutes in India, atleast that is what its site shines of, with just 13 full time professors on board. Majority of the instituions don't have faculty but Bihar is shining because every girl child has now a cycle to go to schools. Do you really check the statistics, if not, pl go & try to find out what is the %age of the girl child going to schools & where does it stand out compared to the national average. Goondas are in Jail, Yes they are but can one say that most of the elitist goondas are still not out in the form of your own politician?

Nitish is no doubt a better alternative to Lalu but if the question is if he is the best choice, I have my doubts unless Nitish is able enough to sort these issues specially the ones that show his inaptness as an administrator.

Jai Bihar