Bihar to focus on electronics equipment manufacturing

After success in food processing, the information technology (IT) and telecom hardware manufacturing has caught the eyes of Bihar government. The state has now decided to give special attention to this sector and plans to declare it as a "thrust area".

"We may have missed the BPO bus," said Naveen Verma, principal secretary of the Industries Department, "but we do not want to miss this opportunity. The central government has already announced, in its National Policy on Electronics, that use of locally made component will be encouraged. The policy makes the use of local component mandatory for electronics manufacturers. It is a huge opportunity for us as the policy offers fiscal incentives." The policy, which was introduced last year, aims to boost indigenous manufacturing of electronic goods, so that it can fill the gap between domestic demand and supply in electronics goods.

Suprem Court raps Bihar govt for not enforcing 1977 teachers' notification

The Supreme Court has come down heavily on Bihar government for not implementing its 1977 notification that provided "promotional avenues" to secondary school teachers like other government employees.

"The attitude of the state government in this matter has caused unnecessary anxiety to a large number of teachers. The state government must realise that in a country where there is so much illiteracy and where there are a large number of first generation students, the role of the primary and secondary teachers is very important.

"They have to be treated honourably and given appropriate pay and chances of promotion. It is certainly not expected of the state government to drag them to the court in litigation for years altogether," a bench of justices Surinder Singh Nijjar and H L Gokhale said while allowing the plea of Bihar State Government Secondary School Teachers Association (BSGSSTA).

The teachers' body had moved the apex court seeking a direction to implement the 35-year-old notification which provided that their cadre be merged with grade-II officers of Bihar Education Service Association to provide "promotional avenues" to them also.

Justice Nijjar, writing the judgement, took strong exception to the fact that state government changed stands, delayed implementation of notification and pursued three rounds of litigations from high court to the Supreme Court.

The court also expressed its displeasure over the fact that a single judge and the division bench of the Patna High Court heard the matter afresh in third round of litigation, when it had already been decided by the Supreme Court.

"We do not expect such an approach from the state government and least from the high court," it said.

The apex court also ticked off the Patna High Court for ignoring the fact that the apex court had already heard and decided the matter.

"The hierarchy of the courts requires the high courts also to accept the decision of this Court, and its interpretation of the orders issued by the executive. Any departure therefrom will lead only to indiscipline and anarchy," the bench said, in its 42-page judgement.

"The high courts cannot ignore Article 141 of the Constitution which clearly states that the law declared by this Court is binding on all courts within the territory of

India," it added.

"In the same vein we may state that when the judgement of a Court is confirmed by the higher court, the judicial discipline requires that Court to accept that judgement and it should not in collateral proceedings write a judgement contrary to the confirmed judgement."

Disposing of the appeals of teachers' body, it said, "We do record our strong displeasure for the manner in which the State of Bihar kept on changing its stand from time to time. This is not expected from the state government."

The court, however, said the chances of promotion for secondary teachers are "very less" and there was "serious stagnation" as far as subordinate teachers were concerned.

The teachers' body had raised the question of promotional avenues for them on the lines of Bihar Civil Services and Bihar Engineering Service and sought implementation of the notification.

The government-appointed committee, in its report, had said, "Education department may get the posts of engineers included in the cadre of the PWD and obtain their services on deputation basis...The remaining posts should be included in general cadre and manned by officers of Bihar Educational Service as far as practicable."

The report was accepted and a notification was issued on April 11, 1977, but, it was not implemented and that led to litigations in the high court and Supreme Court.

In one of the proceedings, the government said there was no proposal to merge sub-ordinate teachers into Bihar Education Service Class-II.

Ending first round of litigation, the apex court, in 2001, had asked the government to implement its notification.

Another round of litigation started in the high court and ended with the apex court issuing the similar direction.

However, in the third round, Bihar Education Service Class-II moved the high court alleging that teachers' group cannot be treated at par with them for promotion purposes.

The high court set aside the notification, leading the affected teachers' body to move the apex court again.

The apex court allowed the plea of teachers' body and rapped the government and criticised the high court for hearing the case after it had decided the issue.

Bihar for ban on export of casein, milk powder

Bihar government today asked the Centre to immediately ban the export of casein and milk powder, besides effecting an increase in their export duties as pre-emptive measures to prevent milk scarcity in the country.

Although the availability of milk was adequate and there was no threat of an immediate price hike, the Centre should be proactive in discouraging the export of casein and the raw material for cattle feed to cool down prices of milk and milk products, Deputy Chief Minister S K Modi, who heads a cabinet sub-committee in Bihar to keep a watch on escalating prices of essential commodities.

The export of the casein and milk powder should be banned with immediate effect, he said.

"Their export duty should also be raised to discourage large-scale export as a pre-emptive measure to prevent scarcity of milk in the country, he said.link

Milk prices not to increase in Bihar

Amid indications by the Central government that milk prices may rise in the near future, the Bihar government today assured people that the rates will not be hiked in the state.

"There is no plan to increase milk prices in Bihar. We will not hike milk rates," Chief Minister Nitish Kumar told newspersons at a function.

"In Bihar, there was no shortage of milk and the COMPFED has already announced that it will not increase milk prices," Kumar said.

Bihar State Co-operative Milk Producers' Federation (COMPFED) sells milk and milk products in the state and outside under the brand name of Sudha.

Earlier, Managing director of Sudha dairy, Sudhir Kumar Singh said that prices of milk would not increase in Bihar for the time being.link

World Bank arm moots mantra for Bihar's development

A World Bank arm has suggested strengthening of the monitoring process in Bihar government's functioning and transparency in development works for the state's growth.

"Strengthening the monitoring process in government functioning and more transparency in the development measures will pave way for a developed Bihar," said World Bank Institute Vice-President Sanjay Pradhan.

Pradhan was addressing a session in a two-day conclave that concluded Sunday night. The World Bank Institute is the learning, training and capacity building arm of the World Bank.

Pradhan said lack of monitoring in government functioning and less transparency has been a stumbling block in the state's development.

"There was a need to strengthen the vigilance bureau and the Right to Information (RTI) to make headway for development of Bihar. People can use RTI to get any kind of information. The RTI has provided a rare opportunity to people to receive information," he said.

He said the RTI was yet to be implemented at grass root level and its benefit is yet to reach the marginalised sections of society.

Pradhan further said the World Bank was committed to pump $150 million for development of Bihar.

He said Bihar is poised for development as it recorded a growth rate of 7.7 percent during 2005-08.

Pradhan hails from Patna and was one of the over 100 professionals from Bihar who made a mark in various fields at home and abroad and attended the conclave.link

Bihar government may be hard put to explain starvation deaths

The Bihar government is likely to face trouble over a lawsuit alleging at least 100 people have died of hunger in the state in the last three years, as the Patna High Court has directed the petitioner to take it up with the state human rights commission.

Social activist Ramashray Singh, who had filed the public interest litigation (PIL), said he would approach the commission this week. Officials say the state government may not be in a position to answer all the questions asked by the commission.

An official appointed by the Supreme Court had said in October that at least 100 people have died of hunger in the past three years in Bihar. But the state government dismissed the claim.

"It is a hard fact that 100 people died of hunger in Bihar in the last three years due to the failure of food- and work-related government schemes," said Rupesh, state adviser to the commissioner of the Supreme Court to monitor the implementation of food-related schemes of the Bihar government.

Rupesh said he had submitted a report on hunger deaths in Bihar to the state government in August and another in October. The reports were also sent to the commissioner of Supreme Court N.C. Saxena.

Rupesh said the reports not only confirm the deaths due to hunger but "reveal the pathetic situation regarding implementation of food and social security schemes in Bihar".

These schemes include the Integrated Child Development Scheme, the Midday Meal Scheme, the public distribution system, the Antyodaya Anna Yojana, the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme, the National Maternity Benefit Scheme, the National Social Assistance Programme, the National Family Benefit Scheme and the Annapurna Yojana.

"Apart from major leakages and corruption, the coverage of government food schemes is so meagre that they leave huge holes in the social security net through which large numbers of most destitute women and men, girls and boys slip into starvation and hunger," said Rupesh.

The reports warned that the situation can worsen "if all possible action is not taken before it becomes uncontrollable".

Bihar has been hit very badly by drought and flood. As many as 26 districts are drought-affected. Nearly 40 percent of Bihar's 83 million people live below the poverty line, the highest in India, according to a World Bank report.

Rupesh said researchers led by him visited Begusarai, Muzaffarpur, Gaya, Jehanabad, Nalanda and Patna between June and August. These are the districts where starvation deaths have been reported by the media in the last two-three years.

Rupesh said that in Ratubigha village in Jehanabad district and Jhamawara village in Nalanda district, the block development officer (BDO) did not feel it necessary to send the body for postmortem or get a medical report after alleged starvation death.

In Tetua Tola Kharuna village in Gaya district, Murti Devi in her late 40s died Oct 10. Although the local administration denied that she died of hunger, Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has ordered a probe.

In Ratubigha village in Jehanabad district, about 50 km from here, three starvation deaths took place over four days in August, Rupesh said.

Ajay Dome, the son of one of the victims, Chalitar, claimed that his father went without food for eight days before he died. Rupesh's report points out that Ajay and his wife Renu Kumari were not on the list of people below the poverty line, so they did not get subsidised food. Chalitar' unemployed son said the family was fighting for survival.link

Bihar government demands commission to define BPL families

Finding holes in the computation method of the Centre for calculating the number of BPL families, Bihar government today demanded setting up of a commission to fix the criteria to define the people living below poverty line.

"Centre's criteria with regard to computation of below poverty line (BPL) families is not correct and has many shortcomings which need a relook," Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Kumar Modi claimed.

He demanded setting up of a commission to fix the criteria to define the people living below poverty line saying "the Centre's criteria is marks based, which in most cases have adversely affected the poor itself".

Modi, who also holds Finance portfolio, said the state government has identified 1.50 lakh families living below the poverty line whereas Centre's figure stood at 60 lakh.link

Bihar gets Rs63.50 crore for police modernisation

The Bihar government today received Rs63.50 crore from the Centre for police modernisation in past four successive financial years. In reply to a question by RJD's Nawal Kishore Yadav, Water Resources Development minister Vijendra Prasad Yadav told the state Legislative Council on behalf of the government that the state received Rs11.50 crore in 2005-06, Rs51 lakh in 2006-07, Rs15 crore in 2007-08 and Rs36.49 crore in 2008-09 for police modernisation.

The minister said that the state government has utilised the funds to purchase 8932 rifles, 185 LMGs, 14 Mortars, 168 carbines, 946 pistols, 572 grenade rifles and various types of 17,88,860 cartridges and 960 bomb mortars to modernise its police force. The purchased arms and ammunitions have been distributed amongst the policemen, Yadav said. link

5 Lakh more Bihar kids 'school chale'

"Roke se na ruke hum, suraj sa chamke hum, school chale hum..." Remember the melodious jingle composed for the government of India's Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA)? The `School Chale Hum' programme under the SSA has turned out to be one of the most successful endeavours in Bihar with nearly five lakh out-of-school children being brought back to schools under it during the last two years.

In fact, the efforts of Bihar government under the SSA programme, which aims to bring quality elementary education to millions of children, have yielded positive results. Not only has the state been allocated the highest budget, but it has also sent back a record number of children to classrooms.

The success of the programme has now created a need for strengthening the secondary education infrastructure across the country.

As HRD principal secretary Anjani Kumar Singh said, "Bihar's allocation under SSA for the current year is even more than UP, which is about Rs 4,300 crore. The state made optimum utilisation of its allocation last year also and the results are not far to seek. We have already sent back a record number of kids between the age group of 6 and 14 back to school."

At present, out-of-school children in the age-group of 6-14 years has come down to 3 per cent in 2009 from 13.1 per cent in 2005.

Programme officer Ravi Shankar Singh of Bihar Education Project (BEP), which is the state implementing agency of SSA, said, "Out of the approved budget, 60 per cent is sanctioned by the Central government, while the rest 40 per cent is shared by the state government. Now approximately 6 lakh (5,22,586) children are out of school, while over five lakh children have been sent back to classrooms."

Similarly, the proportion of out-of-school girls in the state has also dropped from 20.1 per cent in 2005 to 2.92 per cent in 2009, added BEP sources.

What lends further credence to the efforts of the state is that the maximum number of children who have started going back to school are Muslims and SCs. In March 2008, the Muslim child population in Bihar in the age group 6-14 was 33.06 lakh and of them only 2.83 lakh were out of school. The number of out-of-school Muslim children now stands at 1.52 lakh, while 1.57 lakh SC students are yet to attend school.

HRD official also said, "It is indeed one of the most successful flagship programmes. Given the background, in early 2000, when educational infrastructure had almost collapsed and fund utilisation was minimum, the SSA proved its worth. One lakh clasrooms and 2.14 lakh teachers are now visible in the state."

SSA, apart from being a programme with clear time frame for elementary education, also offers opportunities to states to develop their own vision of elementary education. It has set 2010 as the deadline for providing useful and relevant elementary education to all children in the 6 to 14 age group.link

Over three lakh Bihar government employees to lose pay over strike

More than 3,00,000 Bihar government employees who had struck work for 33 days will not receive their salaries for this period as the state government has taken a "no work no pay" stance.

"The government is firm on not paying them salaries to ensure its policy of 'no work no pay'," an official of the state finance department said, adding that a letter to this effect had already been issued.

"Soon after the employees went on strike (last month), the government warned them to return to work or face 'no work no pay'," another official said.

The state government has, for the first time, taken a decision to deduct the salaries of its employees for the striking period as it badly affected the functioning of the offices and delayed development schemes for over a month.

The employees went on an indefinite strike Jan 7 demanding revised salaries as recommended by the Sixth Pay Commisiosn "in letter and spirit". The government refused this, citing a funds crunch. The strike ended Feb 9 following a Patna High Court order.link

Bihar government to pay Rs 20 lakh compensation to policemen killed in Nawada

The Bihar government has announced an ex-gratia payment of Rs 20 lakh to each of the 10 policemen killed in the naxal attack at Mahuliatand village in Nawada district on Monday.

Additional Director General of Police (Headquarters) Neelmani told reporters that the next of the kin of the policemen killed in the attack would be be paid Rs 20 lakh including Rs 10 lakh as insurance money.

The ten, including the station house officer of Kauakaul police station and Assistant Sub-Inspector I D Singh were killed when over 200 CPI (Maoist) ultras armed with sophisticated weapons attacked a police party sent to the village to provide security at a function organised on the occasion of Ravidas Jayanti, official sources said.

Bihar government to dismiss striking employees

A month after over 300,000 of its employees went on strike, the Bihar government has decided to dismiss them, officials said on Saturday.

The government would begin to serve dismissal notices to striking employees on Saturday, said Amir Subhani, secretary, Personnel and Administrative Reforms department. The notices would be sent to the employees' homes.

According to official sources, a decision to serve dismissal notices, under section 8(2) of the Bihar Government Servant Conduct Rules, 1976, was taken at a high-level meeting chaired by chief secretary RJM Pillai.

"Some top officials were busy till late on Friday night preparing the final list of employees to be served notices," the sources said.

The move comes a day after the government told the Patna High Court that it would not hold negotiations with the associations of the striking employees until the month-long stir was withdrawn.

The employees went on an indefinite strike on Jan 7 demanding implementation of the recommendations of the Sixth Pay Commission in "letter and spirit" after failure of talks with Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Kumar Modi, who also holds the finance portfolio.

The government issued the striking employees show-cause notices on Jan 22, a day after the deadline to resume work lapsed, warning them of action including denial of salary and suspension from work. However, the striking employees did not return to work as their demands were not accepted by the government.

Modi, who refused to accept the employees' demands because of a funds crunch, had earlier ruled out any possibility of the government negotiating with the striking employees.

The strike has affected the functioning of the government departments and health services across the state. Most of the government offices, particularly the treasury and registration departments, wear a deserted look.

However, the leaders of the striking employees said that strike will continue despite the threats to dismiss them.

Earlier, the striking employees ignored the state government's "no work, no pay" warning. "We will not end our strike unless our demands are accepted by the government," said Manjul Kumar Das, general secretary of the Bihar State Non-Gazetted Employees Federation (BSNGEF).link

Bihar wins National Award for e-governance

'Jankari', a Bihar government project to empower people with information under RTI over telephone, has bagged the National award for e-governance.

"The award will be given to the state government's unique project, Jankari Call Centre under Right to Information Act (RTI), on February 12 this year at the national conference on e-governance in Goa," Amir Subhani, Principal Secretary, Personnel, told reporters here.

Bihar is the first state to start the Jankari project, a brain child of Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, which enables people living in remote corners of the state to make applications under RTI through a telephone call, Subhani said.

The operators receiving the calls in call centres draft the applications under RTI and send it to the public authorities for providing requisite information to applicants.

During the two years of its existence, the call centre received 22,600 calls of which 7,070 were to submit applications under RTI, 3016 calls for filing first appeal and 1,400 calls for filing second appeals before the state information commission, Subhani said.

Admitting that the ratio of applications received from rural areas was less in comparison to those received from Patna due to poor dissemination of the programme and poor connectivity of BSNL landline phones, the secretary said that the department had taken steps to correct the problems.

The state government, he said, was taking steps through its public relations department to make people aware of the programme.

The state government had given a slide presentation of the Jankari programme in Delhi on January 19 before a jury who appreciated the state government's efforts, Subhani said.

The award would be given by the Department of Administrative Reforms under Ministry of Personnel, New Delhi. link