Tuesday 19 April 2011

Bihar News, Latest News from Bihar, News of Bihar, Biharprabha News

Bihar News, Latest News from Bihar, News of Bihar, Biharprabha News

Bihar becomes inspiration for Bengal Village

Posted: 19 Apr 2011 05:54 PM PDT

Bhurri in Bengal and Hasanpur in Bihar are set cheek by jowl. Tilling their land for a living and catching fish in the nearby Mahananda, the two sets of villagers have almost everything in common.

They speak fluent Hindi, Bangla and Suryapuri — a local Hindi dialect — and celebrate Kali Puja as enthusiastically as Ramnavami and Chaiti Chhath.

And now they have two common expressions on their lips: "poriborton" (change) and "natun byabastha" (new order).

While Hasanpur's 135 families have achieved the change they craved with Nitish Kumar replacing Lalu-Rabri after 15 years, Bhurri residents are seeking inspiration from their neighbours to try and end the 34 years of CPM rule in their state. They will vote in the Karandighi Assembly seat of North Dinajpur on April 18.

Abdul Karim, 30, of Hasanpur said: "We are happy with the change in Bihar. Our village now has a metal road connecting it to National Highway 34. We have also got the primary school reopened and upgraded into middle school."

Bhurri has a mud track and a small primary school squeezed into the cluster of thatch-and-mud homes.

"Our leaders seldom visit our village. We don't have roads like Hasanpur has. The schoolhouse is too cramped unlike the spacious Hasanpur school. We will vote against the Forward Bloc's Gokul Rai this time," said Shibulal Das, 36, at Bhurri.

It isn't as though Hasanpur is a hub of development and Bhurri neglected in every way. Hasanpur residents are envious of Bhurri's regular power supply.

"We live in darkness because there is no electricity in our village while Bhurri glows after sunset," said Moinuddin. "I hope Nitish Kumar will soon bring electricity to our village."

And here lies the difference. Moinuddin has confidence in his state's government, but his Bhurri neighbours have none in theirs.

Isn't it good that they have bulbs to light up their homes, electric fans to cool them in the summer, and pumps to water their land?

"But schools and roads are more urgent needs," a young man says. "More than that, we are fed up with the same set of leaders. We want change."

Otherwise, the similarities between the two villages are striking. Both Bhurri in North Dinajpur and Hasanpur in Katihar depend on Dalkhola for access to a market.

Dalkhola is a 14-ward municipal town in North Dinajpur sandwiched between Bihar's Purnea and Kishenganj districts. Almost equidistant from Calcutta and Patna, it has a big market for jute, grains and oilseeds. This is the season of maize, mustard and other oilseeds.

Local traders said the Dalkhola market was doing business worth Rs 25 crore a day in maize.

Karandighi has been a Forward Bloc bastion, with the party winning the previous five times.

"It won't be any different this time. Some misguided youths who have not seen the slavery and loot in pre-1977 Bengal are talking about poriborton without realising what the so-called change will bring them," said the district head of CPM youth wing DYFI.

The people may be talking about change, but they hardly talk about Mamata Banerjee. Historically, the Trinamul Congress has had little presence in north Bengal. "We wantporiborton more…. We don't much care whether it's Mamata or someone else," a Bhurri resident said.

The CPM and Forward Bloc cadres are more visible going door to door than their Congress and Trinamul counterparts, who are seen mostly in their relatively better furnished offices in the townships.

The Left appears to have the odds stacked against it but is battling harder and more cohesively. For instance, the Congress won nine against the Left's five seats in the 14-member board of Dalkhola municipality in 2008, but the CPM succeeded in luring three Congress members away. Now the board has a Left-backed chairperson.

 

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Bihar plans to reach poorest using Radio Melas

Posted: 19 Apr 2011 07:31 AM PDT

Patna, April 16 (IANS) In the age of smart phones and 24-hour television channels, the poorest of the poor still rely on the vintage transistor radio to quench their thirst for news and entertainment. And Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has a perfect plan up his sleeve — organising ‘Radio Melas’.

In a bid to ensure transistor radios to Mahadalits, the poorest of the socially marginalised, Nitish Kumar has asked top officials to organise radio fairs across the state.

Nitish Kumar has announced that the government would pursue private manufacturing companies to organise fairs at different places where the poor can buy transistor radios at reasonable prices.

Officials in the human resource development department say the fairs will be the first of its kind in the state and probably in the country as well.

As per Census 2011, Dalits constitute nearly 15 percent of Bihar’s 104 million population. The commission has identified 21 of the 22 Dalit sub-castes as Mahadalits. These include Musahar, Bhuiyan, Dom, Chamar and Nat.

“The beneficiaries (Mahadalits) will not be given money to purchase transistor radios, but provided coupons by the companies,” Nitish Kumar said.

In 2009, the state government had decided to directly hand over Rs.400 to each family to purchase radios.

However, Nitish Kumar said it was decided not to give money to the families as officials of the Scheduled Caste/Scheduled Tribes welfare department and the Mahadalit Vikas Mission apprehended that the money might be misused by the families.

After the free cycle scheme for school girls gave the cycle industry a boost, radios for Mahadalits is set to have the same affect on the transistor manufacturing industry.

The Mukhya Mantri Cycle Yojna was started in 2007. Official sources say the government has distributed thousands of bicycles to girls till now. And the attendance of girls in schools has shot up from less than 170,000 to 490,000 in just three years. The scheme has now been extended to boys as well.

Bihar was the first state in the country to constitute a Mahadalit Commission. It was decided that the commission would study the status of the neglected sub-castes among Dalits and suggest ways to uplift them.

In power-starved Bihar, most Mahadalits are living without any electricity, except in state capital Patna and some towns. Millions are still living in the lantern age as electricity has become a sort of luxury.

Protests against acute power shortage broke out in Bihar in the last month. There have been reports of people blocking roads and ransacking electricity board offices.

At a time like this, a battery-powered radio device makes perfect sense for the poorest of the poor, what with it being one of the cheapest means of entertainment.

“While the state has a daily requirement of 2,200-2,500 MW, it produces only 45-50 MW of power. The central government supplies around 750 to 900 MW. So there’s a power deficit of around 1,000-1,200 MW a day,” an official said.

Mahadalit Satrughan Ravidas, who works as a daily wage labourer, said, “The state government had announced it will give us money for radio two years ago but till date there is no trace of it”.

Satrughan, in his late 30s, a resident of Jeetuchak village under the jurisdiction of the Naubatpur police station in Patna district, said that radio will provide them an easy opportunity to listen to music, news and social and political programmes. “We don’t have television; radio will certainly give us some advantage,” Shatrughan told IANS.

Another Mahadalit – Suresh Razak, who works as a washerman in Lohanipur, a middle class locality here, said that people like him hardly need radio but those living in rural areas will get some benefit by the radio scheme of the state government.

“I owned a TV set and have radio also because I am earning by working hard in Patna; this is rare as most of the Mahadalits are fighting for survival. Radio will be a gift for them,” Razak, in his mid 40s, said.

 

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Promotion of doctors hangs in balance

Posted: 19 Apr 2011 04:24 AM PDT

PATNA: Despite the Departmental Promotion Committee (DPC) clearing names of around three dozen doctors for promotion to the rank of professor and associate professor in the six government medical colleges of the state in December 2010, these doctors are still awaiting their promotion.

Promotions have got delayed as the issue is being referred to the state cabinet for its final approval. As a result, faculty shortage in the medical colleges continues. On an average, the six medical colleges are functioning with 30-40% faculty deficiency.

The decision of the December 23, 2010, meet of the DPC is hanging balance as under RTI Act, as per the Rules of Executive Business, Bihar, questions were raised about the transparency and impartiality of the selection method followed by the DPC in reaching a consensus on the names of the candidates to be promoted against the vacant posts of professors and associate professors.

The state health department had referred the matter to the cabinet secretariat for its opinion which suggested placing the matter before the cabinet for its approval before making any appointments.

Says health secretary Sanjay Kumar, “Earlier, promotions to the posts concerned were made once the DPC cleared the names, which were later okayed by the minister concerned and the chief minister himself. However, this time, some people raised objections over the procedure, due to which the health department thought it fit to refer the matter to the cabinet secretariat for its suggestion on the matter.”

Asked whether getting cabinet approval does not delay the process as nearly all medical colleges are facing faculty crunch, Kumar said the cabinet secretariat was competent enough to give direction on the issue.

 

 

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