The Bihar cabinet today decided to give pensions to those with 40 per cent disability removing the earlier criteria that the disabled persons should have an annual income of Rs 30,000 to be eligible for the pension.
The cabinet has done away with the earlier system under which disabled persons having annual income of upto Rs 30,000 were entitled to get a monthly pension of Rs 200, principal secretary, cabinet and coordination department, Girish Shanker told reporters.
Now anyone with 40 per cent disability would be entitled to the pension, Shanker said adding that about 25 lakh disabled people are likely to benefit from the scheme.
The cabinet also decided to provide Rs 200 monthly pension to widows of the families having an annual income of upto Rs 60,000 under the Laxmibai Social Security pension scheme.
Earlier, widows of the BPL families were only covered under the scheme. Widows of about three lakh families would get the benefit of this scheme, Shanker said.
The cabinet also sanctioned Rs 37.26 crore to provide subsidy to the farmers to purchase power tillers. It also cleared a sum of Rs 6.24 crore to strengthen the Bihar State Remote Sensing Application Centre.
A sum of Rs 74.66 crore was also sanctioned for the payment of salary of madrassas' teaching and non-teaching employees.
Tuesday 11 August 2009
BIADA to reinstate sacked staff
The Patna High Court on Monday disposed of a Letters Patent Appeal (LPA) of the Bihar Industrial Area Development Authority (BIADA) on its submission that it would reinstate the 108 employees whose services it had terminated.
A division bench presided by acting Chief Justice Shivakirti Singh and Justice Anjana Prakash disposed of the petition when additional advocate general Lalit Kishore submitted that BIADA had recently got an undertaking from the association of the terminated employees that they would not resort to strike and maintain discipline. On the basis of this undertaking, BIADA is going to reinstate them, he added.
BIADA had filed the LPA challenging the decision of a single bench of the Patna High Court, which had set aside the order of termination of the employees after they refused to go on contract. Soon after their termination, the employees had resorted to strike.
Panchayats:
A single bench presided by Justice Ajay Kumar Tripathi on Monday directed the state government to file a counter affidavit to writ petitions of the mukhiyas of four gram panchayats -Paspura, Ulao, Singhol and Mohammadpur Raghunathpur, challenging the government decision to bring the four panchayats under the Bhagalpur municipal corporation.
Mukhiyas Rajendra Das, Vishnu Priya, Uday Shankar Mishra and Meena Devi have challenged the government move on the ground that the gram panchayats were elected for five years under the provisions of the Constitution and Bihar Panchayat Raj Act.
Petitioners' counsel M P Gupta submitted the four gram panchayats cannot be made a part of the Bhagalpur municipal corporation before completion of their five-year term. link
A division bench presided by acting Chief Justice Shivakirti Singh and Justice Anjana Prakash disposed of the petition when additional advocate general Lalit Kishore submitted that BIADA had recently got an undertaking from the association of the terminated employees that they would not resort to strike and maintain discipline. On the basis of this undertaking, BIADA is going to reinstate them, he added.
BIADA had filed the LPA challenging the decision of a single bench of the Patna High Court, which had set aside the order of termination of the employees after they refused to go on contract. Soon after their termination, the employees had resorted to strike.
Panchayats:
A single bench presided by Justice Ajay Kumar Tripathi on Monday directed the state government to file a counter affidavit to writ petitions of the mukhiyas of four gram panchayats -Paspura, Ulao, Singhol and Mohammadpur Raghunathpur, challenging the government decision to bring the four panchayats under the Bhagalpur municipal corporation.
Mukhiyas Rajendra Das, Vishnu Priya, Uday Shankar Mishra and Meena Devi have challenged the government move on the ground that the gram panchayats were elected for five years under the provisions of the Constitution and Bihar Panchayat Raj Act.
Petitioners' counsel M P Gupta submitted the four gram panchayats cannot be made a part of the Bhagalpur municipal corporation before completion of their five-year term. link
Monday 10 August 2009
Improvement in human development in Bihar: Report
The primary results of Bihar's first Human Development Index (HDI) indicate that there has been improvement in the human development compared to the past due to better facilities created in the education and health sector.
The HDI value has gradually increased since 1981, but Bihar has been lagging far behind among the 15 major states. The indicators used for districts in Bihar to construct composite index are per capita district domestic product, adult literacy and infant survival rate, said project head Jagdish Prasad who is a senior faculty member of A N Sinha Institute of Social Studies (ANSISS).
The ANSISS has been entrusted with the task of preparation of Human Development Report (HDR). The project, which was sponsored by the department of planning and development, Government of Bihar, is likely to be completed by next month.
A substantial difference across districts has been found. Prasad told that there is a large regional disparity in the state which needs attention from development policy point of view.
He said that the indicators of HDI will certainly help Bihar to integrate human development concerns into its development strategies. He said that along with HDI, human population index and gross development index and district development index would also be prepared so that sectoral gap could be identified.
The report will consist of 14 chapters which mainly include development challenges and specifications of Bihar, human development in Bihar, health and nutrition, agrarian economy, social security, environment issues, gender equality and district development index: a comparative view and a road ahead.
Recently, the ANSISS had organized a day long workshop to introduce the theme of the HDR. It was also aimed at getting feedbacks from the experts of different fields on the coverage of the subject in the report. It was essential as the HDR would be an independent assessment of human development in the state, Prasad told.
Bihar's principal secretary, planning, Rameshwar Singh said that the HDR would be marked as beginning of new developed Bihar. It would be the first step towards monitoring the process of development in a manner that directly captures the quality of life of the state, Singh said.
Singh said that a major objective of the HDR was to bring about a certain consensus on the adoption of the human development approach in Bihar. The final report is likely to be submitted to the government next month, said an official.link
The HDI value has gradually increased since 1981, but Bihar has been lagging far behind among the 15 major states. The indicators used for districts in Bihar to construct composite index are per capita district domestic product, adult literacy and infant survival rate, said project head Jagdish Prasad who is a senior faculty member of A N Sinha Institute of Social Studies (ANSISS).
The ANSISS has been entrusted with the task of preparation of Human Development Report (HDR). The project, which was sponsored by the department of planning and development, Government of Bihar, is likely to be completed by next month.
A substantial difference across districts has been found. Prasad told that there is a large regional disparity in the state which needs attention from development policy point of view.
He said that the indicators of HDI will certainly help Bihar to integrate human development concerns into its development strategies. He said that along with HDI, human population index and gross development index and district development index would also be prepared so that sectoral gap could be identified.
The report will consist of 14 chapters which mainly include development challenges and specifications of Bihar, human development in Bihar, health and nutrition, agrarian economy, social security, environment issues, gender equality and district development index: a comparative view and a road ahead.
Recently, the ANSISS had organized a day long workshop to introduce the theme of the HDR. It was also aimed at getting feedbacks from the experts of different fields on the coverage of the subject in the report. It was essential as the HDR would be an independent assessment of human development in the state, Prasad told.
Bihar's principal secretary, planning, Rameshwar Singh said that the HDR would be marked as beginning of new developed Bihar. It would be the first step towards monitoring the process of development in a manner that directly captures the quality of life of the state, Singh said.
Singh said that a major objective of the HDR was to bring about a certain consensus on the adoption of the human development approach in Bihar. The final report is likely to be submitted to the government next month, said an official.link
39 encephalitis deaths, high alert in Bihar
After the death of at least 39 children in Bihar in the past 15 days, a high alert was sounded in Bihar, health officials said here Monday.
Most of the deaths took place at Patna Medical College and Hospital in the last two weeks.
“Several more children are in various hospitals for treatment,” Sanjata Roy Choudhary, head of the paediatric department at the hospital, told.
All the dead were below 10 years and from poor families, she said, adding she also suspected that two or three children died of Japanese encephalitis.
According to hospital officials, most of the fatalities were from different villages in the flood prone districts of Muzaffarpur and Vaishali in northern Bihar.
Choudhary said that she had already informed the departments concerned of the spread of the disease in the region.
Encephalitis, transmitted by a mosquito bite, is a viral infection occurring throughout south, south east and east Asia.link
Sunday 9 August 2009
Poverty, hunger drive elderly couple in Bihar to suicide
Poverty and hunger forced an elderly couple in a Bihar village to commit suicide, villagers said Sunday. However, a local official maintained the couple died of cancer but was unable to explain how the deaths occurred at the same time.
Farm labourers Inderdeo Mahto and his wife Kari Devi, both in their 60s and residents of Khushalpur village in Gaya district, allegedly consumed poison Saturday after going without food for days as they found no work since early July, villagers claimed.
'They were left in the lurch, no one helped them and hunger forced them to commit suicide,' Manoj Prasad, a villager, said.
'Mahto and his wife used to work as farm labourers to earn their livelihood but for over a month, there was no work available because of the drought like situation and people were reluctant to hire them for other jobs due to their age. He was not supported by his two sons, both of whom live separately and also work as labourers,' Suresh Singh, another resident of the village, said.
Village council head Rambha Devi also told Sunday that the couple died due to poverty and hunger.
The names of the couple reportedly did not figure in the list of those below poverty line (BPL). Villagers said the couple had requested authorities to add their names to the list but this was not done. However, both of Mahto's sons figure in the list.
Block Development Officer (BDO) Shivnarain Singh said the couple died of cancer but was unable to explain how the deaths occurred at the same time.
Police have recovered the bodies and sent them for post mortem. A case has been filed.
Scanty rainfall has affected millions of farmers in Bihar as transplanting of paddy seedlings has been badly hit. The state has seen a deficit of 43 percent rainfall so far in this monsoon season.
The state government admitted that a drought-like situation was prevailing in 32 of the state's 38 districts and has set up a crisis management team, headed by Chief Secretary Anup Mukherjee, for measures to tackle the situation.
Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has called an all-party meeting here Sunday to discuss the issue. The government is considering declaring some worst affected districts drought-hit.link
Farm labourers Inderdeo Mahto and his wife Kari Devi, both in their 60s and residents of Khushalpur village in Gaya district, allegedly consumed poison Saturday after going without food for days as they found no work since early July, villagers claimed.
'They were left in the lurch, no one helped them and hunger forced them to commit suicide,' Manoj Prasad, a villager, said.
'Mahto and his wife used to work as farm labourers to earn their livelihood but for over a month, there was no work available because of the drought like situation and people were reluctant to hire them for other jobs due to their age. He was not supported by his two sons, both of whom live separately and also work as labourers,' Suresh Singh, another resident of the village, said.
Village council head Rambha Devi also told Sunday that the couple died due to poverty and hunger.
The names of the couple reportedly did not figure in the list of those below poverty line (BPL). Villagers said the couple had requested authorities to add their names to the list but this was not done. However, both of Mahto's sons figure in the list.
Block Development Officer (BDO) Shivnarain Singh said the couple died of cancer but was unable to explain how the deaths occurred at the same time.
Police have recovered the bodies and sent them for post mortem. A case has been filed.
Scanty rainfall has affected millions of farmers in Bihar as transplanting of paddy seedlings has been badly hit. The state has seen a deficit of 43 percent rainfall so far in this monsoon season.
The state government admitted that a drought-like situation was prevailing in 32 of the state's 38 districts and has set up a crisis management team, headed by Chief Secretary Anup Mukherjee, for measures to tackle the situation.
Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has called an all-party meeting here Sunday to discuss the issue. The government is considering declaring some worst affected districts drought-hit.link
Six dead, 1,000 afflicted with cerebral malaria in Bihar
Six people have died and at least 1,000 were suffering from cerebral malaria in state of Bihar, news reports said Sunday.
All the victims were residents of Haveli Kharagpur area of Munger district, about 200 kilometres west of state capital Patna.
At least 80 villages in the area had reported cases of cerebral malaria, district health official RN Pandey was quoted as saying.
Local residents said at least 30 people including several children had succumbed to the disease.
"We are taking all measures on war-footing to provide medical care to affected people and spraying DDT in the villages," Munger district civil surgeon KC Singh said.
Cerebral malaria is caused by a type of mosquito bite and can be fatal if not treated in time. The disease, which causes high fever, can affect the brain.
A team of federal health officials are visiting the affected villages to assess the situation.
Senior Bihar health official RN Mishra said malaria was endemic in the hilly area along the border of Bihar and Jharkhand state.
Malaria parasite-carrying mosquitos tend to breed in rainwater that collects in pits and crags in the hill area during the monsoon season.
The region is largely inhabited by poor tribal people and has few hospitals or clinics.link
All the victims were residents of Haveli Kharagpur area of Munger district, about 200 kilometres west of state capital Patna.
At least 80 villages in the area had reported cases of cerebral malaria, district health official RN Pandey was quoted as saying.
Local residents said at least 30 people including several children had succumbed to the disease.
"We are taking all measures on war-footing to provide medical care to affected people and spraying DDT in the villages," Munger district civil surgeon KC Singh said.
Cerebral malaria is caused by a type of mosquito bite and can be fatal if not treated in time. The disease, which causes high fever, can affect the brain.
A team of federal health officials are visiting the affected villages to assess the situation.
Senior Bihar health official RN Mishra said malaria was endemic in the hilly area along the border of Bihar and Jharkhand state.
Malaria parasite-carrying mosquitos tend to breed in rainwater that collects in pits and crags in the hill area during the monsoon season.
The region is largely inhabited by poor tribal people and has few hospitals or clinics.link
Most areas of Bihar to be declared 'calamity-hit' tomorrow
Chief minister Nitish Kumar today said that most parts of Bihar will be declared 'calamity-hit' tomorrow in the wake of deficient rainfalls in the state.
Emerging from an all-party meeting here, Kumar asked prime minister Manmohan Singh to immediately send a ministerial team to the state to assess the magnitude of the damage due to calamity and recommend for financial package.
The representatives of all the political parties who turned up in the all-party meeting voiced unanimity over the issue of tackling severe drought conditions, Kumar told reporters.
He said a special meeting of the state cabinet will take place tomorrow to specify the areas to be declared calamity-hit in keeping with the guidelines under the Disaster Management Act and the National Calamity Fund (NCF).link
Emerging from an all-party meeting here, Kumar asked prime minister Manmohan Singh to immediately send a ministerial team to the state to assess the magnitude of the damage due to calamity and recommend for financial package.
The representatives of all the political parties who turned up in the all-party meeting voiced unanimity over the issue of tackling severe drought conditions, Kumar told reporters.
He said a special meeting of the state cabinet will take place tomorrow to specify the areas to be declared calamity-hit in keeping with the guidelines under the Disaster Management Act and the National Calamity Fund (NCF).link
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
