Pappu Yadav had planted a cactus in a tin pot on the terrace of his house here before he set out for Delhi seven months ago to join work. The 25-year-old had also promised his father he would make the family house a pucca structure when he next visits home, in Lattipur village of Bhagalpur district.
Two days after he became one of the three fatal victims from Lattipur in Sunday’s accident at Delhi Metro’s construction site in South Delhi, the family is still looking at the cactus and the half-built house to find strength and come to terms with reality.
Besides Pappu Yadav, Amit Yadav, 25, and Niranjan Yadav, 18, were the other victims from Lattipur among six fatalities in the Zamrudpur mishap. All three were labourers at the construction site — among 45 from Lattipur working to put the Metro on track in time, according to villagers.
Barely out of her teens, Pappu’s wife Nitu has just come to her in-laws’ place and sits ashen-faced. Amid sobs, his mother Sita Devi says Pappu had promised to take his wife to Delhi one day. “That day would never come now.”
Eldest of three sons, Pappu was the family’s sole earning member.
Similar is the scene at houses of Amit Yadav and Niranjan Yadav: burst of rage at the authorities amid the mourning.
The duo’s mothers want to see their bodies one last time before cremation at the Ganga ghats here.
The river, though, has emerged as a scourge for the village of around 8,000. Locals blame the Ganga, flowing barely a kilometre from the village and eroding cultivable land every year, for making almost a third of the local youths to migrate to cities like Delhi, Ludhiana and Surat in search of livelihood.
In the last 40 years, villagers say, annual floods have eroded more than 600 bighas of cultivable land. And when the water recedes, it leaves behind sand that cannot grow anything.
To Delhi, with dreams
Niranjan’s father Awadesh Yadav, 47, says lack of cultivable land made him pull out his son from school after Class VIII. The family, he says, needed the money: “But there was no work here, so he went to Delhi.”
Villagers estimate at least 1,000 Lattipur youths work in the Capital, with 45 employed with the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) alone.
Niranjan’s uncle Arvind Yadav says the youths who initially got a job with DMRC said the corporation pays better than most organisations. In areas like Lattipur, with unemployment staring youths at every street corner, that spread like wildfire and more made a beeline for work with DMRC, Arvind says. “Once the chain was built, migration continued — even we began enjoying it since money suddenly started flowing in to the village.”
According to him, barely two out of every ten villagers can be called “well-placed”, with a job either in the Army, or schools and banks. The village, he points out, does not have a “full pucca” house.
Though Lattipur has a high school and colleges in neighbouring Bhagalpur, few continue their education beyond matriculation. Pappu Yadav was in fact among the few who cleared Intermediate from the village.
Though the village elders blame almost everyone — from Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar to “our MP” Shahnawaz Hussain, and local authorities to DMRC officials — Sunday’s accident has not deterred Lattipur youths from still dreaming of work outside. Many in fact are open to working with DMRC. “We have to leave the village some day — staying here will mean only playing cards and wasting our life,” Class X student Nilesh says.link
Tuesday 14 July 2009
Lack of water hits paddy transplantation in Bihar
Mustafa Khan and Balram Lal, both farmers, scan the skies every day for signs of rain. And most days they are left disappointed. With the state recording a deficit of more than 50 percent in rainfall so far, Khan and Lal, like hundreds of thousands of farmers in Bihar, have one grave worry: how will they transplant paddy seedlings if there is no water in the fields?
“We are losing hope. It’s almost the month of Sawan (July 16-Aug 16) and lack of rains is bound to hit paddy transplantation,” said Lal, who lives in Maoist-hit Aurangabad district, about 100 km from here.
“Every day we pray for heavy rains, it is the only hope for us.”
According to Animesh Chanda, director of the meteorological office here, Bihar received 118.2 mm rainfall against its requirement of 246.5 mm from June 1 to July 7. “It recorded a deficit of 52 percent,” he added.
Chanda said the monsoon was delayed by two weeks in Bihar and rainfall was likely o be below normal.
To make matters worse, farmers said that unlike in the past, there is no water in the canals for irrigation. “We are lucky our village falls under canal irrigation but this year the canals are dry,” Khan said.
A large part of central Bihar is irrigated by water from the Sone river, brought through canals.
Another farmer, Maheshwar Ram, said huge quantities of paddy seedlings transplanted last month have wilted in the scorching heat.
A few farmers have managed to save paddy seeds sown early this month by pumping ground water.
Officials in the agriculture department said less than 10 percent of transplantation of paddy seedlings has been completed.
The state government targeted paddy cultivation on 3.55 million hectares this year. “Till date, transplantation has been reported on about 300,000 hectares,” one official said.
Last month, Chief Minister Nitish Kumar announced that farmers would be given diesel at subsidised rates under a contingency plan to cope with the drought-like situation. link
“We are losing hope. It’s almost the month of Sawan (July 16-Aug 16) and lack of rains is bound to hit paddy transplantation,” said Lal, who lives in Maoist-hit Aurangabad district, about 100 km from here.
“Every day we pray for heavy rains, it is the only hope for us.”
According to Animesh Chanda, director of the meteorological office here, Bihar received 118.2 mm rainfall against its requirement of 246.5 mm from June 1 to July 7. “It recorded a deficit of 52 percent,” he added.
Chanda said the monsoon was delayed by two weeks in Bihar and rainfall was likely o be below normal.
To make matters worse, farmers said that unlike in the past, there is no water in the canals for irrigation. “We are lucky our village falls under canal irrigation but this year the canals are dry,” Khan said.
A large part of central Bihar is irrigated by water from the Sone river, brought through canals.
Another farmer, Maheshwar Ram, said huge quantities of paddy seedlings transplanted last month have wilted in the scorching heat.
A few farmers have managed to save paddy seeds sown early this month by pumping ground water.
Officials in the agriculture department said less than 10 percent of transplantation of paddy seedlings has been completed.
The state government targeted paddy cultivation on 3.55 million hectares this year. “Till date, transplantation has been reported on about 300,000 hectares,” one official said.
Last month, Chief Minister Nitish Kumar announced that farmers would be given diesel at subsidised rates under a contingency plan to cope with the drought-like situation. link
Two lynched in Gopalganj and Aurangabad districts over theft, molestation charges
Two men, one accused of molesting a girl and the other a suspected thief, were lynched by mobs in Bihar's Gopalganj and Aurangabad districts, police said on Tuesday.
A man, identified only as Shivnath, was beaten to death on Monday evening in Shahpur village in Gopalganj by family members and neighbours after a girl alleged that he had tried to molest her.
"Shivnath was caught when he was trying to escape after a girl cried that he tried to molest her. Family members and neighbours beat him to death him with bamboo sticks and iron rods," a police official said.
Relatives of the victim lodged a case with the police, naming seven people as the accused. Two people have been arrested, police said.
In the second case, a 25-year-old man was lynched on Monday by a mob near Anugrah Narain Road Station in Aurangabad district on charges of theft. The victim has not been identified by the police.
A case has been lodged against the unidentified people who lynched him, an official said.
In rural Bihar, street "justice" is becoming increasingly common. Over 50 cases of lynching were reported from the State over the last four months.
In one of the worst cases of lynching in Bihar, 10 people from the underprivileged Kueri community were thrashed to death in Vaishali district over an alleged theft in September 2007. Later, a high-level probe found that the men were not thieves as the villagers had suspected. link
A man, identified only as Shivnath, was beaten to death on Monday evening in Shahpur village in Gopalganj by family members and neighbours after a girl alleged that he had tried to molest her.
"Shivnath was caught when he was trying to escape after a girl cried that he tried to molest her. Family members and neighbours beat him to death him with bamboo sticks and iron rods," a police official said.
Relatives of the victim lodged a case with the police, naming seven people as the accused. Two people have been arrested, police said.
In the second case, a 25-year-old man was lynched on Monday by a mob near Anugrah Narain Road Station in Aurangabad district on charges of theft. The victim has not been identified by the police.
A case has been lodged against the unidentified people who lynched him, an official said.
In rural Bihar, street "justice" is becoming increasingly common. Over 50 cases of lynching were reported from the State over the last four months.
In one of the worst cases of lynching in Bihar, 10 people from the underprivileged Kueri community were thrashed to death in Vaishali district over an alleged theft in September 2007. Later, a high-level probe found that the men were not thieves as the villagers had suspected. link
Monday 13 July 2009
IMA condemns attack on doctors
IMA state branch has condemned a murderous attack on Dr Vivekanand Jha and Dr S K Das of Madhepur Primary Health Centre (Madhubani) on Saturday night and has demanded immediate enactment of the Health Professional Protection Act on the pattern of Andhra Pradesh to check increasing incidents of attack on medical professionals across the state.
The IMA has demanded immediate arrest of those involved in the attack on the two doctors and legal action against them in accordance with the law. An IMA team would visit Madhepur and submit its report to the state government on the incident.
CME: A CME on `Surgery in Medically Unfit Patients' was held at the Patna Bone and Spine Diseases Private Hospital here on Sunday. Speaking on the occasion, Dr Sanjeev Kumar of Magadh Hospital urged the surgeons to be equipped with full cardiac set up, including cardiac monitor and ventilator, while going for operating a patient suffering from angina and other heart ailments.
Eye camp: The Bihar Ophthalmological Society, Upchar and Vision 2020 jointly organized a free eye camp at Anandpuri on Sunday where 50 cataract patients were selected for operation. Eminent eye specialists, including Dr Subhash Prasad, Dr Sunil Singh, Dr Sudhir, Dr Anita Ambastha, and Dr Nagendra Prasad, examined the eye patients. In all, 250 patients were given free spectacles at the camp.
Meet on heart disease: A CME programme on `Rheumatic Valvular Heart Disease' was held here by the IMA Academy of Medical Specialities.link
The IMA has demanded immediate arrest of those involved in the attack on the two doctors and legal action against them in accordance with the law. An IMA team would visit Madhepur and submit its report to the state government on the incident.
CME: A CME on `Surgery in Medically Unfit Patients' was held at the Patna Bone and Spine Diseases Private Hospital here on Sunday. Speaking on the occasion, Dr Sanjeev Kumar of Magadh Hospital urged the surgeons to be equipped with full cardiac set up, including cardiac monitor and ventilator, while going for operating a patient suffering from angina and other heart ailments.
Eye camp: The Bihar Ophthalmological Society, Upchar and Vision 2020 jointly organized a free eye camp at Anandpuri on Sunday where 50 cataract patients were selected for operation. Eminent eye specialists, including Dr Subhash Prasad, Dr Sunil Singh, Dr Sudhir, Dr Anita Ambastha, and Dr Nagendra Prasad, examined the eye patients. In all, 250 patients were given free spectacles at the camp.
Meet on heart disease: A CME programme on `Rheumatic Valvular Heart Disease' was held here by the IMA Academy of Medical Specialities.link
Shoot at least a portion of Dabangg in Bihar : Shatrughan Sinha
Producer Arbaaz Khan has decided to stay away from the state for Dabangg. A source close to the unit said, “We’ve heard many shocking stories about Bihar. So it seems very risky for Salman, debutante Sonakshi Sinha and the rest of the unit to work in Bihar.” A faux-Bihar will be created in Wai, Nasik and the suburbs of Mumbai, for the film.
However, Shatrughan Sinha, Sonakshi’s father, is aghast at the thought. Born in the state, he recently contested the election and won a seat from Bihar. He said, “What better occasion to prove that Bihar is safe, than my own daughter’s film? I’m certainly going to suggest to Salman and Arbaaz that they shoot at least a portion of Dabangg in Bihar.”
Not many know that Shatrughan Sinha has submitted a proposal for a film city in Patna to Bihar’s chief minister Nitish Kumar. Talking about his pet project, he said, “I don’t know why that proposal was brushed under the carpet. I feel a culture centre in Bihar which would include cinema, theatre and television would encourage and cultivate local talent. It would also encourage Bollywood to visit Bihar. Sadly even our Bihari filmmaker in Bollywood, Prakash Jha, has shot all his Bihar-based films like Mrityudand, Apaharan and Gangaajal outside Bihar. I’d like to change this.”
However, Shatrughan Sinha, Sonakshi’s father, is aghast at the thought. Born in the state, he recently contested the election and won a seat from Bihar. He said, “What better occasion to prove that Bihar is safe, than my own daughter’s film? I’m certainly going to suggest to Salman and Arbaaz that they shoot at least a portion of Dabangg in Bihar.”
Not many know that Shatrughan Sinha has submitted a proposal for a film city in Patna to Bihar’s chief minister Nitish Kumar. Talking about his pet project, he said, “I don’t know why that proposal was brushed under the carpet. I feel a culture centre in Bihar which would include cinema, theatre and television would encourage and cultivate local talent. It would also encourage Bollywood to visit Bihar. Sadly even our Bihari filmmaker in Bollywood, Prakash Jha, has shot all his Bihar-based films like Mrityudand, Apaharan and Gangaajal outside Bihar. I’d like to change this.”
Implementation of Rajiv Gandhi Grameen Vidyutikaran Yojana in Bihar
Under Rajiv Gandhi Grameen Vidyutikaran Yojana (RGGVY), all 43 projects of Bihar have been sanctioned and awarded. Out of 43 projects, 26 projects are of 10th Plan and 17 projects are of 11th Plan. These projects are likely to be completed within the 11th Plan period.
There is no state-wise allocation of funds. However, an amount of Rs.2324.10 crores has been disbursed to Bihar upto 30th June, 2009.
This information was given by Shri Bharatsinh Solanki, Minister of State, Ministry of Power in a written reply to a question by Shri Ali Anwar Ansari in the Rajya Sabha today. link
There is no state-wise allocation of funds. However, an amount of Rs.2324.10 crores has been disbursed to Bihar upto 30th June, 2009.
This information was given by Shri Bharatsinh Solanki, Minister of State, Ministry of Power in a written reply to a question by Shri Ali Anwar Ansari in the Rajya Sabha today. link
Chief Justice of India to give Bihar more CBI courts
The Chief Justice of India, KG Balakrishan, today hinted that Bihar may have three to four more special CBI courts. He was speaking on the occasion of the centenary celebrations of Patna Law College, in Patna on July 11. Also present on the occasion was Governor of Bihar, Devender Konawar, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and Acting Chief Justice of Patna High Court, BK Singh. While laying the foundation stone of the auditorium-cum-seminar hall in the college, Nitish Kumar reiterated his commitment to fight corruption in Bihar. He enlisted his government's initiatives vis-à-vis his tirade against corruption. He also highlighted his government’s ‘speedy trial experiment’ which has earned nation-wide appreciation among legal luminaries.
The Bihar government recently enacted a law that would ensure the confiscation of properties of public servants found having disproportionate assets. The state vigilance board has so far arrested more than 1,000 public servants for accepting bribes. Thousands of cases have already been filed; the enacted law has now enabled the government to confiscate their assets. In fact the government’s vow against corruption has shown encouraging results and governance has improved perceptibly – a development that has earned nation-wide appreciation.
Highlighting the problem of high number of cases pending in different courts, the CJI said that the Prime Minister had responded positively to his letter in which he had requested the setting up of more courts.
He said that in Delhi alone, 350 murder cases were filed every year but only 250 of these could be disposed off, leaving 100 cases. Such a rate has resulted in a huge number of pending cases over time.
The governor said that the economic disparities among poor and rich have to be bridged otherwise the violence and Naxalism would go unabated. Hopefully, the setting up of new CBI courts (at present the state has only two) will increase the pace of disposal of cases, drastically reducing the scope for corruption.
Interestingly, judicial reforms have become a priority for the newly-elected UPA and many bills aimed at weeding out corruption in the judiciary, are on the anvil. The judiciary has also sensed the mood of the government and the public, and has responded positively with this move. Recent cases of corruption in the higher judiciary have taken a heavy toll on the image of the judiciary. Recent judgements in courts sound critical of the judicial system itself; it has even rebuffed judges against whom serious charges of corruption have been levelled. The CJI also hinted that he would get tougher on cases of corruption in the judiciary as well.link
The Bihar government recently enacted a law that would ensure the confiscation of properties of public servants found having disproportionate assets. The state vigilance board has so far arrested more than 1,000 public servants for accepting bribes. Thousands of cases have already been filed; the enacted law has now enabled the government to confiscate their assets. In fact the government’s vow against corruption has shown encouraging results and governance has improved perceptibly – a development that has earned nation-wide appreciation.
Highlighting the problem of high number of cases pending in different courts, the CJI said that the Prime Minister had responded positively to his letter in which he had requested the setting up of more courts.
He said that in Delhi alone, 350 murder cases were filed every year but only 250 of these could be disposed off, leaving 100 cases. Such a rate has resulted in a huge number of pending cases over time.
The governor said that the economic disparities among poor and rich have to be bridged otherwise the violence and Naxalism would go unabated. Hopefully, the setting up of new CBI courts (at present the state has only two) will increase the pace of disposal of cases, drastically reducing the scope for corruption.
Interestingly, judicial reforms have become a priority for the newly-elected UPA and many bills aimed at weeding out corruption in the judiciary, are on the anvil. The judiciary has also sensed the mood of the government and the public, and has responded positively with this move. Recent cases of corruption in the higher judiciary have taken a heavy toll on the image of the judiciary. Recent judgements in courts sound critical of the judicial system itself; it has even rebuffed judges against whom serious charges of corruption have been levelled. The CJI also hinted that he would get tougher on cases of corruption in the judiciary as well.link
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
