Radio for education

Bihar government is thinking of using the radio to reach out to the poor people of Bihar and educating them about the importance of literacy, sanitation and kicking bad habits like consuming alcohol and tobacco.

At the outset it is a good media option as many of the people hear radios in Bihar. However, will they listen to someone talking rather than listen to someone singing. The programs have to be made interesting enough for the people to listen to them and I am sure the people working on this plan will figure out a way to use the tool effectively. And even if it has some impact on the people , then the effort will be worth it.

Finally, this shows that more and more people are thinking of ways to improve the situation in Bihar in some way or the other and this is definitely good news.

More details about this news can be read in The Economic Times article "Reaching out to Bihar's poorest, via radio"


Prashant
progressivebihar.blogspot.com

An interesting take on Nitish and Bihar

I came across an interesting article in Times of India which is a take on Nitish Kumar and Bihar in a way. Its a long read and most of us know about the things discussed, but is a good read if someone has the time.

The last paragraph is interesting. Shaibal Gupta of ADRI has said that if Bihar continues to grow at double digits every year, it will take 18 years for Bihar to catch up with Maharashtra.

The article can be read at "From darkest India, an enlightened leader"

Bihar's plan outlay - 28,000 Crores

Bihar's plan outlay has been enhanced from R. 24,000 Crores to Rs. 28,000 Crores. Many will be surprised to hear that the plan outlay has grown more than 10 times in the last 11 years. The plan outlay for Bihar in 2001 was Rs. 2,644 Crores.

More details can be found in the Zee News article Bihar's plan size to be hiked to Rs 28,000 crore

Prashant
www.progressivebihar.com

1980 MW Thermal Power Plant @ Shivanpur in Aurangabad.

Chief Minister Nitish Kumar laid the foundation stone for a 1980 MW capacity Thermal Plant at Shivanpur in Aurangabad on the 28th of January 2012. The power plant is being constructed by Nabinagar Power Generating Company Pvt. Ltd , a joint venture between NTPC and Bihar State Electricity Board. Salient features of this power plant are:

1. The power plan is being contructed at an estimated cost of Rs. 12,965 crores.
2. It will have 3 units of 660MW each in the first phase.
3. Two more units of 660MW each will be constructed in the subsequent phases.
4. The first phase is likely to be commissioned by 2015.
5. Total land required for the project is 2,833 acres out of which 1,872 acres is private land.
6. Farmers whose land has been acquired will get a compensation at the rate of Rs. 21 lakh per acre.
7. Bihar will get 70% of the power generated by this power plant.

I think its a good step toward improving the electricity situation in Bihar and attracting more industries. I hope that the power plant doesn't face any delays and hickups that we are used to seeing in such large projects. We should also look at kick starting more power projects that can be completed faster so that Bihar can quickly fulfill the shortfall of electricity that it currently faces.

This Power project was first approved in early 2010 and the central government had also approved coal linkages in March 2010 (Coal linkage for two 660Mega Watts plants). However it has taken almost 2 years after clearing the coal linkages to move ahead on this project. The main hurdles on the way was getting a central government approval to use the water from Ganga for the power plant and the second hurdle was land acquisition.

Overall a good step in the right direction. More details about the Thermal power plant can be found in the Times of India article - Bihar big leap towards ‘power’

Small but steady steps for a Green Revolution in Bihar

It is not the state government alone that can usher in prosperity and development within the state. Once the government has laid the foundation of a better administration and sense of security, many people can contribute in the state's growth. And some of the steps taken by farmers signal signs of a green revolution that could come to Bihar. With Bihar being  predominantly an agricultural economy , it would be good to have a fresh green revolution in Bihar.

Some of the recent achievements in the agricultural space that I have come across and  which will make many people happy are

1. Sumant Kumar of Nalanda district created a new world record in paddy cultivation  . He had a bumper yield of 224 quintal per hectare which was enough to break the world record set by a Chinese farm scientist Yuan Longping. Sumant's four other friends , Krishna Kumar, Nitish Kumar, Ramanand Singh and Sanjay Kumar also had extraordinary produce. They used an unconventional way of paddy plantation called "System of Rice Intensification (SRI)"
2. Jyoti Manjhi from Gaya had first popularised this technique of SRI in Bihar by cultivating paddy on barren land.
3. Manoj Kumar of Muzaffarpur motivated farmers in and around his village Mustafaganj to embrace organic farming and use vermi-compost on a large scale. 
4. Villagers in Mustafaganj also have started planting 10 saplings of Semel (silk cotton trees) to meet the expenses of the wedding of their daughters in future.
5. Similarly in Dharhara village of Bhagalpur, villagers have for long, been planting fruit trees on the birth of every girl.
6. Sudhanshu Kumar from Samastipur was awarded the "Best Mango Grower Award" last year
7. Samriddhii - that aims to redesign the Vegetable supply chain in Bihar specially for the marginalized vegetable and fruit grower farmers of Bihar

For an all round development of Bihar, we need progress in all areas and agriculture is one area that will have the impact on majority of the people. Thus the above achievements definitely are something that will make all of us proud.

Sources for the above data

India Today article - Grassroots Heroes Lead Bihar's Rural Revolution

Times of India article - Bihar farmer gets Best Mango Grower award

IIM Indore article - Samriddhii - Redesigning the Vegetable Supply Chain in Bihar

Prashant

www.progressivebihar.com

More 5 star hotels in Bihar

A sign of prosperity is that people have more money , are willing to spend more money and are not scared by the law and order situation to spend money. And this is definitely a case when one sees applications for starting 5 star hotels in Bihar. In the recent times there have been applications for atleast 6 Five Star Hotels in Bihar that have got approved.

Sr. No.	Location	Proposed Infrastructure	Company
1	Patna	Five Star Hotel	M/s Shirti Infrastructure Development Corporation Ltd.
2	Patna	Five Star Hotel	M/s Amit Metaliks Ltd
3	Exhibition Road, Patna	Five Star Hotel	M/s Kumar Infratrade Enterprises Pvt. Ltd
4	Patliputra, Patna	Five Star Hotel cum shopping complex and IT Park	M/s Recon.
5	Budh Marg, Patna	Five Star Hotel	M/s Meridian Budha Hotels
6	Patliputra, Patna	Five Star Hotel	M/s MV Hotels & Projects Pvt. Ltd

 Similarly there are projects for building resorts primarily around Bodh Gaya.

Sr. No.	Location	Proposed Infrastructure	Company
1	Bodh Gaya	International Tourist Resort & Golf Course	M/s Shirti Infrastructure Development Corporation Ltd.
2	Bodh Gaya	Resort	M/s P & M Infrastructure Pvt. Ltd
3	Patna	Resort, Water Park and Education Development	M/s Bajaj Buildcon Pvt. Ltd.
4	Bodh Gaya	Three Star Hotel cum Resort	M/s Yatri Bihar Hospitality Pvt. Ltd.

Besides this there are other smaller projects for Hotels, Restaurants, etc that are being actively considered by the administration or have already been approved.


Thus, all this signals a faith in the government and lesser scare from Politicians / Goons, etc. This is again a great news because it has the potential to improve the image that many Indians still have about Bihar.


These source of these projects are the projects clearance list on the Government of Bihar website.

Happy Republic Day

Wishing everyone a Very Happy Republic Day

Prashant
www.progressivebihar.com

Is Bihar one of the least corrupt States in India?

Atleast that's what two economists Bibek Debroy and Laveesh Bhandari think. They  have concluded that Bihar is now the least corrupt state in India, in their just released book "Corruption in India" The DNA and the RNA. As per them corruption has taken over India , which most of us will agree with. However they also conclude that Bihar - once that bastion of graft - is now "the least corrupt state" in India.


They attribute this to one simple ingredient - Political Will. This and a lot more is captured in the an article "The Battle for Bihar" published in Foreignpolicy.com  by Sudip Mazumdar. This article looks at the corruption scenario across Bihar. Some of the quotes by people included in the article are

1. Anti-corruption crusader Anjali Bhardwaj of the National Campaign for People's Right to Information states"  Nitish Kumar has shown that with a clean image and strong political will, one can bring about steady improvement in the life of citizens. He strengthens democracy and stands out among all the other politicians in India."
2. Pradeep Arya, a prominent businessman who regularly deals with Bihar government agencies states "  "Nitish Kumar, unlike other politicians, does not only talk, but acts on his promises"
3. Bill Gates endorsed Nitish Kumar's reforms by saying " The great works being done here are lessons for other places in the world"

Sudip has also thrown in some recent statistics about Bihar which are an interesting read:

1. Bihar boasts the fastest growth rate of India's 28 states
2. Economy expanding at an astonishing rate of over 14 percent , far ahead of the national average of about 7.5 percent
3. 66,000 criminals have been convicted in the past 6 years for crimes ranging from murder and kidnapping to stealing public funds. All convicts are barred from getting government contracts.
4. 20 officials, including a former state police chief, have been caught in cases of having "ill-gotten" properties.
5. Bihar government built 2400 km of road in 2011, compared to 415 km in 2004.
6. Bihar administration has opened 15,000 schools
7. Bihar has filled doctors in 60 - odd government hospitals and over 800 primary health-care centers in rural areas.
8. Bihar's implementation of Right to Service Act (defining timelines for providing 50 essential services to people)
9. Bihar's Lokayukta act that gives a five-member ombudsman panel broad powers to investigate and prosecute all government functionaries, including the Chief Minister .

The conclusions by Bibek and Lavish are very thought provoking and its a good sign that corruption in reducing in Bihar. It might be a fact that there is still a lot of corruption in Bihar but we are seeing the wheel turn and atleast 2 economists stand out when they say that Bihar is the least corrupt state in India.  

Sudip's article can be read at  "The Battle for Bihar , Sleaze still plagues India. But oneplace is fighting back."

Prashant

www.progressivebihar.com

License for Power Distribution

Essar Power has applied for a license to distribute power in Bihar. Will this improve the power availability in Bihar?

I feel it will definitely improve the situation because there would be more accountability and penalization that can be done with a private company as compared to what can be done with Bihar State Electricity Board. I am sure there have been improvements made by BSEB over the last few years and getting private players into the picture will only further improve things. So allowing Essar or a suitable private player to distribute power with necessary controls in place would be a good thing.

Details about Essar Power trying to enter power distribution can be found in the Economic Times article "Essar Power plans foray into distribution business"

Prashant
www.progressivebihar.com 

Jalalgarh Fort in Purnia to be restored

Another tourist destination in Bihar is on the anvil of being revived. The Jalalgarh Fort in Purnia which is currently in ruins will be restored to its erstwhile glory.

The Jalalgarh Fort, built by Saiyad Muhammed Jalaluddin Khan, is a large quadrangular structure with lofty walls and is situated about 20 KMs from Purnia.

This is another good step. However, I hope that the project is successfully implemented. About 2 years back the Central Minister for Tourism had announced that Tutla waterfalls in Rohtas will be developed as the Grand Canyon of India. After that there has been no news about it . Even after follow ups with the current Tourism Minister and Dy Tourism Minister at the Center, their PAs, the Tourism Secretary of Bihar and others , I have not received any updated on the progress of Tutla Waterfalls. Hopefully Jalalgarh will not face the same fate.

More details about the news can be found in the Zee News article "Bihar: Jalalgarh fort to be restored"


Prashant
www.progressivebihar.com

50 Lakh trees - An Innovative approach

I came across an interesting article which I felt like sharing with everyone.

The ruling JD(U) has made planting a sapling and nurturing it a prerequisite for anyone hoping to join the party. The person has not only got to plant the sapling but also provide a photographic proof that the sapling has been planted to the members of the Harit Bihar Abhiyan committee. The committee will not only provide a unique number to all the saplings planted but also visit the tree at some point or the other to verify if its being well taken care of. It is indeed a novell way of driving a green initiative in Bihar.

JD(U) hopes to enroll 50 lakh new members in the next 2 years and if the green plan of it works, Bihar will have an additional 50 lakh trees planted over the next 2 years. Howzzat!!!

More details can be read in the Indian Express news article "The Green Thumbs".

Prashant
www.progressivebihar.com

China, Taiwan & Japan pledge support for Tourism Development

China, Taiwan & Japan have pledged more than Rs. 200 Crores of support for developing tourism infrastructure in Bihar. The Bihar goverment, which is already preparing to transform Bihar into a world-class destination for religious and historical tourism, will gain from these investments.

Taiwan has committed to investing Rs. 100 crores in restoring tourist sites in two locations - Betiyah and Nandangarh which are part of the Buddha trail. Similarly China has proposed an equal investment for the Center of higher learning being built at Nalanda. And Japan will support other projects like infrastructure, roads and education in Bihar.

Bihar has a great heritage of being the birth place of Buddhism and Jainism besides being the birthplace of Guru Gobind Singh and Goddess Sita and if developed well, Bihar can become a major global tourist location.

These and other more details can be found in the Economic Times article Bihar to take tourism development as countries promise funds


Prashant
www.progressivebihar.com 

Tourism in Bihar - The current situation.

It would not surprise many if someone said that only 63,321 foreign tourists had visited Bihar in 2005. Most would have reacted  that they were surprised that even so many foreign tourist had actually visited Bihar if this question was asked of any one in 2006. In fact giving the situation and picture painted of Bihar in those days,  the reaction would not have not been very off the mark.

Fast forward to 2008, a total of 3,45,572 foreign tourists visited Bihar, i.e. about 5 and half times more in just 3 years time. Now as the Business Line has reported, 5,27,773 foreign tourists have visited Bihar in the first 11 months of 2011. Thus the growth in foreign tourists visiting Bihar has been about 9 times as compared to the number of tourists in 2005.

In 2005 the number of foreign tourists visiting Bihar was only second to Goa; come 2011 and  Bihar has the highest number of foreign tourists visiting any state in India. A total of 1,27, 05, 531 domestic tourists also visited Bihar even though many would have been Biharis returning back to see their state and their people. But then it is good, that the changes in Bihar are prompting many Biharis and other Indians who seldomly came  to Bihar before are now coming or returning back more often.

Quite a feat, don't you  think so, for a state which  not too long ago , was considered by many as a stigma on the face of India! 

It gives immense pleasure to present these statistics on my blog as Bihar is again and again now proving wrong many of its detractors and more so taking large strides towards prosperity.

Many of us would outright vouch that Bihar has a huge potential for tourism growth and the above data really justifies it. However there is still a lot more possible and what is required is to continue building better infrastructure and highlighting the tourism potential of Bihar both in India and abroad. I think that government is working in the right direction with the various infrastructure initiatives and promotional activities like "Discover Bihar" that are being carried out. However for the faster growth of tourism in Bihar more private participation is required.

I was happy to hear about the Digital museums being promoted in Nalanda and Gaya by a few entrepreneurs which can be seen in this NDTV article on Youtube. There must be many more that I have not heard of or just not come across and I think there is many more that will come. It is the destiny of Bihar and Bihar will prosper.

More details about the current statistics can be found in the Business Line article "Bihar woos visitors with eco tourist spots". Details of the earlier stats can be found in my blog post "Tourism Picking up in Bihar"

Prashant
www.progressivebihar.com 

First Major MNC to arrive in Bihar

Molson-Coors-Cobra will be the first major MNC brand of products to be made in Bihar. Lord Karan Bilimoria - a member of the British House of Lords and President of the Indo-UK business council has decided to setup the first brewery of the Molson-Coors-Corba brand of beer in the outskirts of Patna. The fact that the beer market in Bihar has grown from 700,000 cases per year, five years back, to 7 million cases per year, combined with the improved law and order has brought these brands of beer to Bihar.

While beer might not have been the best thing to come to Bihar, it has a silver lining. Other industrial houses who have been sitting on the brink and hesitating to invest in Bihar would be more willing and forthcoming to take this step if Molson-Coors-Cobra brand of beers are manufactured in Bihar. This will give out the right signal to others to seriously consider investing in Bihar.

Hence I am hoping for more larger and strategic investments reaching Bihar in the shorter term.

More details on this article can be found in the Hindustan Times article Brisk beer sale inspires Bilimoria to set up brewery in Bihar


Prashant
www.progressivebihar.com

Discover Bihar - A roadshow to promote Bihar as a tourism destination

Finally a good step is being taken to promote Bihar as a tourist destination within India. The Bihar State Tourism Development Corporation is organizing a series of  roadshows in 10 cities across India. These cities include

• Hyderabad
• New Delhi
• Kolkata
• Chennai
• Bangalore
• Guwahati
• Mumbai
• Jaipur and
• Ahmedabad

The 'Discover Bihar' event features a folk dance recital by a cultural troupe from Bihar and the locations likely to be promoted are Sonepur, Bodh Gaya, Nalanda, Vaishali, Sesaram, Rajgir and Gaya.

More details can be found in the Times of India article - ‘Discover Bihar’ road show today

Prashant (http://www.progressivebihar.com/)

Gates Vaccine Innovation Award for Nitish Kumar

The Bill Gates and Melinda Foundation will award Bihar Chief Minister the first Gates Vaccine Innovation Award. The Bill Gates and Melinda Foundation has accepted a proposal to confer the Gates Innovation Award on Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar for the first Gates Vaccine Innovation Award.


The award will come at a time when immunization programs in Bihar have greatly improved in the recent times and no polio cases were reported in Bihar in the last 15 months.

Great Work Nitish ji and kudos to your team that made this happen.

More details can be found in the Indiawest article Bihar CM Nitish Kumar to Receive Gates Foundation's Innovation Award.

Starting New Year 2012

A Very Happy and Prosperous New Year 2012 to everyone.

I thought the best way to start the new year is by writing about the person who is one of the primary reasons why we all talk and discuss about Bihar - Nitish Kumar and then posting an interview given by him on the 1st of Jan this year.

A little about Nitish Kumar

Name	:	Nitish Kumar
Nick Name	:	Munna
Father’s Name	:	Late Shri Kaviraj Ram Lakhan Singh
Mother’s Name	:	Late Smt. Parmeshwari Devi
Spouse’s Name	:	Late Smt. Manju Kumari Sinha
Date of Birth	:	1st March, 1951
Place of Birth	:	Bakhtiarpur, District – Patna, State – Bihar
Marital Status	:	Married
Date of Marriage	:	22nd February 1973
No of Children	:	One
Education	:	B. Sc. (Engineering)
College	:	Bihar College of Engineering, Patna, Bihar
Others	:	Teetotaler , does not drink or smoke
Key Roles
27/5/2000 to 20/3/2001	:	Union Cabinet Minister, Agrculture
20/3/2001 to 21/7/2001	:	Union Cabinet Minister , Agriculture with additional charge of Raiways
21/7/2001 to 21/5/2004	:	Union Cabinet Minister, Railways
3/3/2000 to 10/3/2000	:	Chief Minister of Bihar
24/11/2005 to 24/11/2010	:	Chief Minister of Bihar
26/11/2010 to date	:	Chief Minister of Bihar

I am pasting the interview given by Nitish Kumar to Times of India. Happy Reading

----------------------------------------Interview-----------------------------------------

Q. Your clean image and popularity is rare for CMs from Bihar. Many now say they hope to see you as PM some day.
I have no interest in moving out (from Bihar) to Delhi, and do not even dream of becoming PM. I am satisfied serving the people of my state. `` Bihar ki seva, desh ki seva hai (The service of Bihar is service of the country). I am a grassroot socio-political worker and my feet are firmly on the ground.
 
Q. Are you satisfied with the performance of your administration?
I am a hard task master, not easy to please. And there is so much to work upon still that the day I say I am satisfied, work will come to a standstill.

Q. What was the biggest challenge that you faced when you took over as CM?
When I took over six years back, Bihar was a lawless state and nothing seemed to move. But I succeeded in establishing the rule of law and people are witness to this enormous change. Problems were aplenty but resources limited. We had to work against many odds, the toughest being the law and order situation.

Q. Bihar is still grappling power shortage and lack of foreign investment . How do you plan to address them?
We are doing our bit to to create a favourable atmosphere that will bring in big industries soon. Labour migration has been checked. When power generation starts, they (industry) will be attracted. If the Centre accords us special category status, there will be a network of industries in Bihar and investments will flow. We have already changed it from deindustrialization to reindustrialization . We have turned a `Bimaru' state into a healthy state but the medicine for sound health is with the Centre.

Q. What are the dreams for Bihar that remain unfulfilled ?
If dreams are fulfilled, people will stop dreaming. I have many: improved connectivity between every corner of the state with Patna; to see students and scholars coming back to the old centre of learning, Nalanda, and I dream of the revival of the old glory of Bihar.

Q. What would you have been if not a politician?
I took an engineering degree and joined the State Electricity Board, but almost halfheartedly. My first day in the office was the last. The political life always interested me. I am not in politics by fluke.
 
Courtsey - Times of India's article I dream of the old glory days of Bihar and Bihar Government's official website

Bihar on the verge or eradicating Polio.

In the last 15 months (i.e. September 2010 to December 2011), no cases of polio has been reported in Bihar which is a good sign that more and more people are getting  better health facilities. There are still about 0.5% kids who are not getting covered by the Pulse polio program and the health department is planning more focus to cover all these children too.
A good achievement.

More details can be found in the Times of India article  Bihar inches closer to polio eradication

Advances in Bihar

The Right to Services Act (RTPS Act) in Bihar has now gone online. The state government launched the online services which will allow citizens of Bihar to avail various services online. For example

1. Ration Card
2. Driving License
3. Scholarships
4. Social security pension
5. Caste, residential and salary certificates
6. Land registration papers,
7. Mutation papers
8. Transport papers
9. Character certificates.

It is a good move in the right direction. Besides Bihar has become the first state in the country to put into place a well-laid arrangement using its own specially made software for providing timely public services. Bihar RTPS Act covers 10 departments covering 50 services.
More details can be read in Public services in state can now be availed online - The Times of India

Interesting end to seized firearms in Bihar

In probably a first that I have heard of, the Bihar police will melt hundreds of firearms seized from various criminals and make farming and gardening tools out of them. Interesting phenomenon: Don't know if this is more cost effective than normal means of production of farming and gardening tools, but atleast it will reduce the amount of firearms in circulation , even if by a fractional percentage.

But I have to say, people in Bihar are getting more creative by the day.

Details about the news can be found in the Gulf News article Bihar to melt seized firearms to make farm implements

70% rural Biharis do not get 3 square meals a day.

We all have known that Bihar has the highest poverty in India. However the statistics will shock most of us. Seventy percent of rural families in Bihar do not have 3 square meals a day (breakfast, lunch and dinner) and have often slept on empty stomach at night. The below statistics is from a survey results published on IBNlive. These statistics are the hunger levels amongst the poor people in India.

State	Hunger Level
Uttar Pradesh	7%
Orissa	9%
Andhra Pradesh	16%
Jharkhand	26%
Rajasthan	36%
Bihar	70%

Out of the people surveyed in Bihar, many said that they had not eaten pulses, fruits, eggs or meat in several weeks. The state government and the central government should be focusing on this area on a war footing, only then will any change happen to the situation of the poor people in Bihar.
While the reference article from IBNlive provides details of the abject poverty in Bihar for everyone to know, another source of information had provided a similar feedback to me less than 2 months ago. One of my friends narrated a real life scenario from his recent experience. He had gone to his village to visit his grandparents and while he was there someone came knocking at the door. This person, who was from the same village, did not have anything to feed his children and hence had come asking for help. My friend started talking to him and realized that this family has not had pulses (daal) in over 3 months: My friend was deeply moved by this and gave him a few kilos of daal, rice , etc so that the family would not sleep hungry atleast for the next few days. I was also moved by this and so would all of you; except that many in the government are not moved by it or just turn a blind eye to it.
At one time daal was called the chicken of poor people. This is what my grandfather had told me when I was a child and it got registered in me. But the fact that today a poor man cannot even afford to feed his kids daal in over 3 months time, is a very shameful thing for all of us.  The state government, the central government and all of us have to really stand up and think: is this the India our forefathers fought for? Why has successive government failed to notice this in Bihar. Do we ever want the likes of the earlier CMs to ever come back ruling over Bihar. Atleast the current government is making efforts to change things. But why is the central government not willing to go that extra mile?

Why is the central government hesitating to accord a special status and therefore provide special support to the people in Bihar. Isn’t the parameters on poverty good enough for the central government to stand up and take note.
I would like to ask Dr. Manmohan Singh (our Prime Minister), whom I respect a lot, that isn’t this data on poverty and state of people in Bihar not a good enough justification to rise above the politiconomics and do something which will improve the lives of people of Bihar ; which will be something done for Humanity. Why can’t the task of bringing up the downtrodden be taken up without politicizing it. Why can’t Dr. Manmohan Singh take a bold decision and say that “I will help the people of Bihar and do whatever required to improve their life be it according special status or providing special focus”

Source of data – IBN live article  70 pc of rural families are hungry in Bihar - India News - IBNLive
Prashant
http://progressivebihar.blogspot.com

Nitish Kumar Government's Report Card for 2011

As with the last few years, Nitish Kumar will come out with a report card on November 27th on the performance of the Bihar government in the last one year after it assumed office for the 2nd term.

It will be interesting to read the report card this year to understand whats changed. There was a lot of meat in the first 2 report cards which common people like  you and me could relate too like improvements in health statistics, etc and so it will be worth the wait to see what the government tables in the report this year.

Some expectations is that the report will focus on the government anti - corruption statistics and will play strongly on the cases like the conversion of a siezed property into a school, etc. It will be worth the while to wait and see the report on the success of anticorruption activities. I remember reading a Times of India article in 2005 which summarized that Bihar was the most corrupt state in India followed by Bihar. I want to see if there is a change in these statistics. I want to see more officials become honest and leaving corruption behind. This will ultimately benefit all Biharis.

But beyond anti-corruption and successes around it, I would really like to see what has been achieved in the areas of agriculture, services and industrialization and what is the plan to accelerate the developments in these areas. Hoping for some renewed rounds of fireworks in the first year of the 2nd innings of Mr. Nitish Kumar at the helm. After all many of us believed and have put faith in Nitish Kumarji's leadership.

Floods in Bihar - What is the solution

Year on Year we keep hearing that Bihar is either suffering from Drought or from floods. More often than not, some part of Bihar goes through a drought situation , while other areas experience floods and that too at the same time. In all situations it is the people who suffer, it is the people who die.

This year again floods came calling: Read The Times of India article from 26th August 2011 - Floods hit thousands in Bihar, UP.  Or the more recent articles Floods in 6 Bihar districts still grim, govt sounds red alert and Flood situation worsens in Bihar.

And then I read an article on BRF (Bihar Revival Forum) that has been trying to garner support for a Canal proposal that will not only ease the flood problems of the people affected by the floods , but at the same time help in improving agriculture in other drought affected areas of Bihar (Read: BRF moots simple plan to check flood in north Bihar). Not only that, as per the plan put together by the BRF, the same water in the canal can be used for generating hydroelectric power. They have reached out to many people for support like ex-President A P J Abdul Kalam, AICC general secretary Rahul Gandhi and senior BJP leader L K Advani but have not been very successful.

This prompted me to read more about the flood situation in Bihar and the findings are mind-boggling:

1. 76% population of North Bihar remains in recurring threat of floods
2. 16.5% of India's total flood affected area is in Bihar
3. 22.1% of the flood affected people in India stay in Bihar
4. 73.06% of the total area of Bihar is flood affected

I knew that floods were a major problem but just realized the magnitude after really doing the research. So the question that comes to my mind is "Why haven't successive state of central government done anything about the flood situation in Bihar?"

The number of people affected by floods is the highest in Bihar,  Poverty is the highest in Bihar: I would think this to be a no brainer - Do something to reduce the floods, channelize the water to other drought affected areas and use it as a multipronged tool for the prosperity and well being of the people of Bihar. This will not only ease the problems of the people affected by floods, it will also help them and the people from the other areas who will benefit from channelized flood water for irrigation, prosper. Bihar is an agricultural economy with 70% of the people or more engaged in agriculture and therefore I would think that building a canal should have been taken at the highest priority... . After all one of key reasons for Punjab and Punjabis in Punjab to prosper is that they put in a canal system in place and that led to a green revolution of sorts in Punjab.

The estimated spend by BRF for their proposal has been pegged at Rs. 600 crores by them but the Bihar government estimated it more like Rs. 6000 crores. I would guess Rs. 600 crores mooted by BRF would be the cost of labor and material for building the canal and not included the estimates for land acquisition, project management, government approvals or not factored in some other costs. But either ways looks like the cost will be anywhere from Rs. 600 crores to Rs. 6000 crores.

The canal should be built even if it means spending Rs. 6000 crores or even Rs. 10,000 crores.This amount is way smaller than the amounts that some ministers and government officials are supposed to have made in the recent time in scams like 2G etc. And afterall it will help give a better life to the people of Bihar which will also benefit people across India. With better life in Bihar, there will be lesser people who will migrate out in search of a job or better living conditions and therefore it will reduce the kind of backlashes like the one the Bihari people faced at the hands of the likes of Raj Thackeray's MNS.

So what is the government waiting for? Industries are still not coming to Bihar at the scale that is required. We keep talking about water for running the Thermal plants and that we are not being allowed to use the water from Ganga for it... Why do we need water from Ganga... Let's spend on building a Canal system and perhaps the flood waters will themselves help run our Thermal power plants. Maybe with better electricity and availability of water, more industrial houses would be willing to set up shop in Bihar.

I see a lot of benefits from being able to channelize the flood waters for better use which benefits everyone. I hope the government also realizes this and does not delay any further on taking tangible actions on this at the earliest.

Source of data for Flood statistics - Flood Management Information System of Bihar

More rural roads in Bihar

Mr. Jairam Ramesh, the Union minister for rural development, has approved a plan to build a network of roads in Rural Bihar which will cover all the rural roads necessary to provide basic access to all habitations in Bihar. This is good news as now everyone will be connected to City and district headquaters and can start reaping benefits from the improvement in infrastructure and law and order in the state. These roads will also boost development activities in the tribal areas including the Maoist affected areas .

The roads will be built on under the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana which aims to provide all-weather road connectivity in rural India.

The other advantage of these roads is that this new investments will continue to help Bihar's GDP growth in the near future.

More details can be found out in the Live Mint article Ramesh clears rural roads plan for Bihar