Bihar witnesses a quiet transformation

Supriya Sharma, Abhay Mohan Jha
Tuesday, July 15, 2008 (Patna, Arrah)
Two and a half years ago, Chief Minister Nitish Kumar won a historic election on the promise of reversing the chaotic legacy of the Lalu Prasad Yadav era, a time when Bihar made repeated headlines - either as India's basket case or for the colourful antics of the Yadav family.Lalu's government has been voted out and it is now the turn of Nitish Kumar. But will it be possible to reform Bihar?

''Fewer journalists come to Bihar now. Earlier, there would be a steady stream, even from organisations like BBC and CNN. I think their visits have come down because there is not enough crime, no caste massacres,'' said Maqsood Bhai, driver.If the quietening of violence is why Bihar no longer hits the headlines, Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has reason to be content.''Earlier, when we would begin to build a road, we would get threatening calls from criminals demanding money. We would stop work and go away,'' said Ashwani Kumar, site manager, road construction site.

NDTV: Now?Ashwani Kumar, site manager: Now, most criminals have either been arrested or have fled. When the administration gets tough, criminals run away.The first and the most dramatic change is that there is less fear of crime. Whether real or a matter of perception, when you drive out in any direction from Patna you will find a road being built.''Since Independence, my village had no road, and we had to wade through water. Now a road is being built,'' said truck driver.''With so much road construction material to be transported, truck drivers don't need to travel outside Bihar,'' said young labourer.''Earlier, 25 per cent of the money would be spent on the road, the rest would be siphoned off by contractors. Now, 75 per cent of the money is used,'' said site manager.In Arrah, a site manager explains to NDTV what's propelling this boom.

''There is stricter supervision by officials. Even contractors feel it is in their interest to complete work on time. Earlier, with limited work, the idea was to earn maximum profits by diluting quality. Now the quantum of work has increased, so there is more profit to be made if you complete work on time,'' said site contractor.Bihar's Road Secretary R K Singh is tough on deadlines both for contractors and his own department.He knows it's key to getting funds from foreign agencies like the Asian Development Bank, one of the many sources to pool together massive unprecedented funds for road expansion.

2003-04: 51.2 crore
2007-08: 2,222.8 crore

Reason why even contractors from outside, once wary of Bihar, are willing to invest.''Who says no one wants to work in Bihar?'' asked R K Singh, Road Secretary, Bihar.A new proactive bureaucracy, new contractors, a newer work ethic but what about older problems?Back on the same highway further away from Arrah, a 14-km stretch still lies un-built.

NDTV: Who is the contractor?No one wants to name the contractor as he is powerful politician Surendra Singh who is married to a ruling JD(U) MLA Asha Devi.Blacklisted for repeated delays, his contract had been cancelled. But when new bids were called no other contractor turned up. Singh's muscle and intimidation had ensured others kept away.Surendra Singh, Anant Singh and Lalan Singh are some of Nitish's party men who regularly appear in criminal records.Their presence has meant any crackdown on crime is seen as targeting only petty criminals. Worse, as they are Bhumihars or upper caste landlords it's meant Nitish's Sushasan or good governance is mocked as Bhushasan or the rule of the Bhumihars. So is this once again a government where caste rules?''In Lalu's regime, everything had collapsed. But now, under Nitish, slowly everything is getting back on track,'' said Naval Kishore Rai, farmer.

NDTV: Do you belong to the Yadav community?

Naval Kishore Rai: Yes.

NDTV: Are you happy with the government?

Naval Kishore Rai: Yes.

NDTV: There is no element of caste?

Naval Kishore Rai: No, we are happy with the way the government in working.Caste doesn't matter, if the government performs says Naval Kishore Rai. For him proof that it is the revival of this government nursery.''The nursery was dead for 15 years,'' Rai further said.

NDTV: Where were you working earlier?
Birendra Paswan, nursery worker: I was working in a farm in Haryana
NDTV: Are you happy to be back in Bihar?
Birendra Paswan: Of course. Under Nitish's government, with so much work being generated under the Employment Guarantee Project, many people are coming back.

Why would anyone work outside, when he can stay at home?
The greenhouses have been set up under the National Horticulture Mission. The road leading to the nursery has been built under the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme. Both are central schemes.The money has come from the Centre. But as everyone knows, the problem in Bihar has never been funds but their utilisation and execution.And when it comes to execution, Nitish's government is way ahead.''During the previous government's time, only pigs and dogs wandered here. Nobody used to come. Nobody thought anything works at a government hospital,'' said Chandra Uday Kumar, villager.In Harnaut, a first hand view of the breakthrough in health can be seen. A doctor in attendance, medicines in stock, a generator to kick in when power fails and an ambulance stationed outside.''There has been wide publicity about the hospital, and patients come with the knowledge that all facilities are available. But the hospital faces some problems. We need at least 7 doctors, but we have only 3 or 4,'' said Raj Nandan Prasad, Doctor.Shortage of staff, a chronic problem in India but magnified in Bihar, where for 15 years government appointments had come to a standstill.Reason why a focus area for Nitish has been appointments, a key decision: The appointment of 2 lakh new teachers.''New teachers with a fresh style of teaching has meant more children have started attending school,'' said Promodini Devi, Principal.''I completed my training as a teacher in 1987. But for 17 years, there were no jobs. The previous regime stopped recruiting teachers despite the number of school students going up. We took on the government in the high court. But this government took back the case. After years of unemployment, I have finally joined a school and I teach with great enthusiasm despite the lost years,'' said Nagendra Sah, new appointee.But in changing Bihar perhaps, what's not changed is exchange of bribes. source: http://www.ndtv.com/convergence/ndtv/story.aspx?id=NEWEN20080057141

Flood Fury

Flood Fury

For Misdeeds of a Few, Many Suffer Ranjit S Mooshahary As always, monsoon showers have inundated many places, Guwahati included, and cut off road communications. The Chief Minister surveyed the devastation in Lakhimpur district in a manner that has been in practice year after year — a few hours of aerial eye view from a chopper and meeting the officials and some members of the public in the district and returning to the capital the same day. Such visits are but a ritual destitute of any resolve to change the situation; the people continue to suffer every summer with no hope for a better next year. The adjacent district — Dhemaji — is even worse. The first rains flood the district and its road communications disappear thereafter. People are forced to live with the surging waters in stilt houses, helpless and hungry. Even without flood, the district is inaccessible and hardly is it in the circuit of visiting dignitaries from the capital. I travelled there in April; a three-hour floundering from Lakhimpur to cover the distance of 72 kilometres over the track that distantly resembled a road. Rains had not started then but the drive after the sunset was uneasy; the vehicle could land on some treacherous ground or get stuck in mud and water. Flood is a recurring event — predictable — and so it must be possible to tame it, control it and prevent it from playing havoc with the lives of the multitudes. No special engineering skill is required for this but only commitment and honesty. The flood-prone spots are already known, and to control it our engineers know where to make dykes, embankments, bridges and realign the roads. If only all that money sanctioned so far had been used honestly with this simple focal concern, the disaster could be averted. Human greed, corruption and lack of accountability are the main reasons for the recurring floods and not some hydel projects or the shifting course of rivers. This tendency to look for excuses is at the root of inaction; it is perpetuating disaster in all spheres.There will be a flurry of construction activities now that the monsoon has arrived. It gives fresh opportunity to make hay in the summer sun to those who have brought this calamity. The railways have laid the tracks all along the same soil, which are hardly breached. This should be the model to emulate in road making and other flood control measures. The flashflood washing away embankments and dykes is a myth; no work worth the name is done on the ground. The Ahom general Lachit Borphukan chopped off his indolent maternal uncle’s head to save the state from the Mughals. We need more of his likes to make the heads roll and save the people from the rapacious lot of fraud merchants.Our problem is not of fund but its proper utilization. It is inexcusable that the State Water Resource Department failed to utilize 33.6 per cent of Rs 1524.42 crore calamity relief fund received in 2001-02 to 2007-08 when the State is repeatedly flooded by calamities. Should we continue to suffer such disastrous inaction? Government within the Government This newspaper wrote some days ago whether the Finance Department was above the Chief Minister. It seems true. This department, in trying to regulate government spending, is actually impeding government functioning. Financial discipline is necessary but in enforcing it, the administration should not be rendered ineffectual. The administrative heads and the department heads must have discretion to function within their budgetary limits and not become subordinate of the Finance Department by having to obtain its approval for incurring expenditures, which are within their power to spend.More often than not, the Finance Department holds up release of fund for projects, delays sanction and payments through too many restrictions. Even the staff salaries and the pensioners’ dues are not released regularly. It has centralized financial administration so much that the heads of the departments can no longer sanction payment for even routine purposes without its approval or concurrence. It is not the remedy for ills but the cause of it, and it undermines accountability in administration.The department is like an administrative black hole — nothing resurfaces once gone there. It seems content to control from the iron curtains and sees no need to learn from the interface. Recently, to get a response from them I had to exercise my right as a citizen under the RTI Act having officially failed as the State Chief Information Commissioner to elicit one. Verily, the Finance Department is not only a government within the government but also a stronger government at that.Police and Politicians: The Two Common Faces They are the most visible public faces — the politicians and the police — and both make news more for the wrong reasons. The public distrusts them but cannot do without them. It will be of course uncharitable to say that the whole of the police and the politicians are scoundrels. There are some honest and conscientious among them and they are doing great service for the people.In the case involving the disgraced Assam politician, Ripun Bora, CBI deputy superintendent AB Gupta showed exemplary integrity in the face of a huge temptation. Bora gave him Rs 10 lakh to secure exoneration from a murder charge. He was promised even more but Gupta did what he was expected to do: he arrested Bora and his accomplices in a carefully organized trap. Gupta will take ten years or more to save that much money through his official income, yet he refused it. It proves that there are still honest policemen in this wicked world and they could not be bought. The media, however, completely ignored this aspect and did not highlight the singular contribution that a junior police officer made in combating corruption. When I was in the IPS in Kerala, I had always taken the stand that we should hand over investigation to the CBI whenever there was a public demand for it. It was not the issue of whether we could not do it ourselves but that we should be above suspicion. Resisting handing over a case to the CBI makes the people suspicious of police intention. When we agree to it readily, no one can accuse us for any motive and the demand declines. In one case, actually some politicians who demanded CBI investigation thought we would resist it, but when we agreed they were caught on the wrong foot — it put their political steam off and worse; the CBI found no substance in the case.Politicians use the police to advance their agenda but do not come to aid them when they fall victims of a situation. There are many instances of the crowd and militants killing the policemen on duty. Recently in the Gujjar riots in Rajasthan, a police detail deployed to guard the railways was outnumbered and attacked by the mob. All could run away but one got trapped in the railway tracks; he was caught and beheaded in cold blood by the violent Gujjars. The media ignored it; the public did not condemn it; and the police chief who stood by his men was shown the door. People should know that 29,255 policemen have likewise been sacrificed at the altar of duty up to 2007. That is more than all the martyrs of the Army, Air Force and Navy combined in independent India. The difference between the policemen and the politicians is that the former die so that others can live in safety and security, while the latter live in comfort and luxury at the cost of others. (The writer, a former Director General of Police in Kerala and Director General of the National Security Guard and the Border Security Force, was the State Chief Information Commissioner, Assam till he resigned on June 24, 2008. This column may not continue because of his new assignment) Source: sentinel assam editorial

Talks possible without Paresh Barua: Gogoi

Talks possible without Paresh Barua: Gogoi

By our Staff ReporterGUWAHATI, June 25: Asom Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi today gave enough hints that peace talks with the ULFA can be carried forward without participation of the outfit’s ‘commander-in-chief’ Paresh Barua if majority of leaders of the rebel group come forward for peace talks.Talking to newsmen in Guwahati today, Gogoi said: “When majority of leaders of a group are against the decision of the chief, it is considered as revolt, and the present situation in the ULFA is no different from that.” When asked whether the peace talks with a section of ULFA leaders will yield any results, Gogoi said: “It was followed in Nagaland. When Phizo was against peace talks with the Centre, other leaders of the outfit came forward for talks without the consent of their leader.”“It’s a development in the right direction. It is the outcome of the tireless efforts of the Government, Army, paramilitary forces and other concerned,” Gogoi said on the peace overtures shown by the 28th battalion of the ULFA.When asked about Army operation against the 28th battalion of the outfit, Gogoi said: ”Appropriate action will be taken. If anybody is found to violate ceasefire rules, the Government will be tough against them.” He expressed his hope that other battalions of the outfit will follow suit.On his part, Asom DGP RN Mathur told newsmen that the 28th battalion of the ULFA would have to abide by the four preconditions as set by the Government earlier. “We have asked the security forces to go soft of the 28th battalion of the ULFA. If the militants want to come to designated camps, they should be allowed to do so. The responsibility of security of the 28th battalion is of the Government.” It may be mentioned here that the ‘A’ and ‘C’ companies of the ULFA’s 28th battalion yesterday declared a unilateral ceasefire with the Government with immediate effect without any preconditions to create a conducive atmosphere for peace talks between the Government and the outfit. Source: sentinel assam

Rs 1000 cr to tackle floods: Gogoi

By A Staff Reporter GUWAHATI, June 13 – Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi today said that an amount of Rs 1,000 crore would be spent in flood and erosion control projects in the coming days. He also announced that one lakh jobs would be created in the next three years to tackle the burgeoning unemployment problem. The Chief Minister, who was addressing the ‘State-level Kisan Rally’ at the Khanapara Veterinary College ground, gave an account of the various development projects undertaken by the State Government, especially in rural areas and in the farming sector. Asserting that facilitating easy finance to farmers was a thrust area of the Government, Gogoi said that a project would soon be implemented which would give three per cent subsidy to loans up to Rs 25,000. “Farmers’ welfare is our prime concern and we want to take agriculture to a new high,” he said, adding that land revenue would also be drastically relaxed for farmers. Gogoi said that the per capita income of the State had increased to Rs 22,000 from Rs 13,000 during the AGP regime. “The growth rate is now 8 per cent from the earlier 2.1 per cent. Assam is changing for the better, and the administration that has been made village-oriented is yielding the results,” he said.Revealing that the Centre’s loan waiver had benefited 22 lakh farmers of Assam, Gogoi said that in the coming days would witness sanctioning of more funds to the sector.

The Ripun Bora Syndrome

The Ripun Bora Syndrome

How many ministers, and even the rest of the MLAs or MPs, do not belong to the upper economic class? One should find out what they get as salary, what they can acquire as assets with that salary, and what they really acquire

Bikash Sarmah

It should not have taken a Ripun Bora to shake the conscience of the people of Assam. Corruption and other forms of immorality are nothing new in this land of ours. There have been several instances in the past to prompt us into questioning the very need for democracy and the so-called welfare state if our leaders find it far more convenient to act as monarchs after being elected by the people. There have been instances that reflect on the ease with which our elected representatives manipulate the course of investigation against them and trample on the law of the land, and on their remarkable ability to win elections without performing anything at all — and despite the fraud they commit on the electorate. Therefore, the Ripun Bora episode is no big surprise. But there is something disturbing. It is the increasing frequency with which politicians are trying to buy their image by bribing those who matter, as also the increasing frequency with which those who matter are willing to be sold at fancy prices.In the wake of the arrest of the sacked Assam Education Minister, this newspaper has received several letters from its readers expressing shock and dismay over the incident. It is as if all of a sudden a realization has dawned upon them all as to the very destiny of their State in the hands of the political species who they have elected to serve them. The letters, which this newspaper has already published, have one thing in common: knowledge of how the elected representatives have served — or would serve — them and of how easy it is for the powers-that-be to influence the course of law and justice. Some of the letters point to the ‘‘taint’’ in the Gogoi cabinet and how the ‘‘tainted ministers’’ continue to enjoy protection from the Chief Minister himself because they are either his trusted lieutenants or extremely powerful on their own.What is surprising is the propensity of the people to react only after the inevitable has happened, and not when their sustained reaction and activism in the past could have worked out wonders for them and their society. It is amusing that only after the arrest of Ripun Bora the people should wake up and even spot the ‘‘taint’’ in the Gogoi ministry when it is common knowledge who is what — right when Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi was forming his Council of Ministers, whether in 2001 or in 2006. So why this sudden awakening? To show that we are all alive and kicking as conscious citizens?This is not to even remotely suggest that people should not react when they have the scope and reason to react to episodes such as Ripun Bora’s. What I am trying to argue is that Ripun Bora cannot be so sudden a provocation when you already know the extent of criminalization of politics and politicization of crime in your beloved State. How many letters have people written to different newspapers about Ripun Bora between the day when the Gauhati High Court directed the CBI to investigate into the murder of Daniel Topno and the day when Bora was arrested by the CBI in New Delhi for attempting to bribe a CBI officer investigating the case? How many columnists have written pieces in different newspapers on Ripun Bora and his alleged involvement in the murder of Topno between the two days? We were all sleeping in utter bliss. Now of course we are smart citizens.It should not have taken so long to wake up and see the scheme of things that Dispur would anyway design. Here you have mostly leaders whose merit is not the virtue of being great democracy practitioners but the power of money and muscle that democracy seems to have sanctioned and legitimized for the sake of their sustenance — so that they may preside over our destiny only to take us closer to our doomsday every passing day. It should not have taken the people of the State a Ripun Bora to have a feel of Dispur as it is now, when they know it pretty well how even cheats and thugs can make a fortune in the profession of politics in this wondrous country. How many of us do not know that even if one fails in all spheres of life he has absolutely no reason to worry provided he has money and muscle power, because there is the profession of politics to absorb and reward him suitably? How many of us do not know that there is no place for saints in politics even though it is this politics that has helped sinners transform into ‘saints’ overnight?One may call it ‘‘Ripun Bora syndrome’’: the tendency of elected representatives to mould the state machinery to their own advantage, given the high success rate in the field; the tendency to make the law of the land subservient to them and their relatives; and the tendency, therefore, to break all laws — and also because as lawmakers they think the various laws they make should not exist for, and be applicable to, them and it is only the hoi polloi who should be bound by the laws. T here is another aspect of the Ripun Bora syndrome. It is the belief of powerful politicians that they are the state and, therefore, its resources are theirs, which means they think they have the divine right to loot the state exchequer and bleed the state dry. How many ministers, and even the rest of the MLAs or MPs, do not belong to the upper economic class? One should find out what they get as salary, what they can acquire as assets with that salary, and what they really acquire. One should find out how disproportionate their wealth is to their known sources of income.Is the Ripun Bora syndrome inevitable in the present scheme of things? It is inevitable, as many would argue, because people have no choice but to elect someone from the lot who are just the ones, as the people themselves know, who will not serve them because their commitment is not to the people but to their own interests. However, the people are at complete liberty to opt for a seemingly undemocratic practice — that of not at all exercising their right to franchise when they see there is none to cast their valuable votes for. This is the only option when democracy fails the people. This is the only option for the sake of a new democracy. Let the message, loud and clear, go to the candidates and the political parties they belong to that they do not deserve democratic mandate because they do not deserve to go to the august House of the people if they face allegations of crime and corruption and, despite this, if they want to be lawmakers.The tragedy of Assam is its people, their attitude, the lack of meaningful activism among them, and their inability to sustain whatever activism they help fashion. Going back to the reactions that have come after the arrest of the former State Education Minister, the question is not of the kind or intensity of reactions but one of their sustainability. There should be a sustained campaign against all forms of corruption in politics and its criminalization. But where is activism by citizens? Where are individuals to lead them? Even after the Ripun Bora disgrace, has anyone seen citizens’ groups or civil society groups staging demonstrations against the alleged taint in the government of the day? Or do the civil society groups in Assam exist solely for the protection of human rights of ‘insurgents’?Ripun Bora’s is not an isolated case. It is part of a continuum whose genesis lies in the manner in which politics is practised in India and in the indifference of the people to both criminalization of politics and politicization of crime. Ripun Bora’s is a manifestation of a kind of politics where the people remain resigned to their fate as decided by the politicians because they do not want to counter the might of ‘their’ leaders since they are either timid or unconcerned. It is the people who are responsible for the Ripun Bora syndrome. What have the people of Gohpur to say? And of Tezpur too, if one is talk of MK Subba? Source: sentinel assam

AASU asks PM to institute probe

The All Assam Students’ Union (AASU) has called upon the Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh to institute a thorough probe into the allegations of corruption and illegal activities against several Ministers of Assam. The students’ body said that as the Chief Minister, Tarun Gogoi has not taken any step to check such activities of the Ministers, the Centre must step in for a probe.In a memorandum to the Prime Minister, the AASU said that during the tenure of the present Government, the entire State Administration has become totally corrupt and the recent arrest of Education Minister Ripun Bora by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) totally exposed the state of affairs in Assam.The memorandum said that the Health Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma was allegedly involved in criminal activities in the past and he amassed lots of properties through illegal means. But instead of taking action against him, the Chief Minister made Sarma the spokesman of the Government. The AASU demanded a CBI probe into the allegations against Sarma.The AASU said that poaching of rhinos increased alarmingly during the tenure of Rockybul Hussain as the Forest Minister of the State and in the year 2007 alone, more than 20 rhinos were killed. The AASU also alleged that Hussain encouraged settlement of illegal migrants in the forest areas and demanded that a CBI probe should be instituted against the Minister.The memorandum further stated that during the tenure of Bharat Chandra Narah as the Water Resources Minister, no positive step was taken for flood management and demanded a probe into the allegations of corruption against the Minister. The memorandum further said that a criminal charge is pending against Excise Minister Gautam Roy, while, it is alleged that Industry Minister Pradyut Bordoloi had a hand in the Prasanna Timung’s missing case.The AASU further said that the Sarba Siksha Abhijan Mission, headed by the Chief Minister failed to transform the elementary education scene in the state and the funds provided by the Centre in this regard were misused. Source: Assam Tribune

AGP holds dharna; asks Gogoi to quit; CM questions AGP moral rights

The main Opposition Asom Gana Parishad goes for a statewide dharna on Thursday demanding Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi’s resignation after the arrest of his education minister Ripun Bora even as the Chief Minister says the regional party has no moral right to seek his resignation.The regional further demand CBI probe into the allegations of some other members in the Gogoi cabinet to unearth the truth behind these. The party on Wednesday took out a procession to the Raj Bhawan from the party headquarters and met the governor Lt general (Retd) Ajoy Singh to dismiss the Gogoi Government. In yet another development, Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi said he would never resign in view of Ripun Bora’s arrest by CBI. He, however, said law would take its own course. When asked by the media people on Wednesday at the sidelines of a function at the Sankardev Kalakshetra, Mr Gogoi said the AGP has no moral right to demand his resignation. “When CBI was to chargesheet against Prafulla Kumar Mahanta in the multi crore Letter of Credit scam, did he resign?’ we his answer. Justifying Ripun Bora’s induction into the Cabinet the Chief Minister said said,” he was doing very well.” On the other hand, the All Assam Adivasi students Association of Assam has called for a 12 hour Assam bandh on Friday demanding capital punishment for Ripun Bora.

Source: Assam Times

Border row: Gogoi, Roy to in fence- mending talk on Tuesday

Assam and Meghalaya Chief Ministers will meet on Tuesday next to make an end to the border row which has simmering for years.Talking to Assamtimes.org, official sources here say Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi is set to sit in negotiation with his Meghalaya counterpart on Tuesday in Dispur to devise a mechanism to resolve the issue. The discussion will mainly focus on the recent tussle over Lengpih in kamrup district bordering Meghalaya.The Meghalaya government officials have informed that Chief Minister Donkuper Roy is expected to offer a joint visit to the area to make the discussion more congenial and practical. They say," Roy will be reiterating Meghalaya's claim based on land records of 1876."Earlier, both the state governments had written to the Centre, seeking its intervention to stop the other from interfering in Langpih. The meeting is set take up problems arising out of differences in other areas between the two states.Notably, the Assam government laid the foundation stone for office quarters in the disputed Langpih area bordering Meghalaya's West Khasi Hills and Assam's Kamrup district. This as done despite Meghalaya's stiff protest.