Friday 29 July 2011
4,311 cases pending in SC/ST police stations in Bihar
Even as the Nitish Kumar government has laid thrust on justice for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes, cases relating to atrocities on SC/ST are increasing and a good number of them are pending in police stations. "The cases are piling up because of the slow pace of their disposal,'' officials claim. According to official records available at the state police headquarters here, 4311 cases lodged under SC/ST Prevention of Atrocities Act, 1989 are still pending with different SC/ST police stations up to May this year. The then National SC/ST Commission chairman Buta Singh, during his visit to Bihar on April 6, 2010, had expressed serious concern over the growing number of cases of atrocities, noting that hardly two per cent of them reach logical conclusion. While the number of cases of atrocities and repression were reported to be 3,723 in 2008, it rose to 5,129 in 2009 but then declined to 3,551 in 2010. State Additional Director-General of Police (Crime Investigation Department) A S Nimbran said there are seven to eight such districts where 50 per cent of cases of atrocities are pending and these are normally the districts where very less number of cases are registered every year. Nimbran confided that there are 200 cases of atrocities and repression being registered in Bihar every month. There are 239, 196, 186, 180, 167, 141 and 121 cases pending in the districts of Muzaffarpur, Saran, Begusarai, Motihari, Gaya, Patna and Gopalganj districts, respectively, he said.
Thursday 21 July 2011
Its hard to mark up total sanitation in Bihar by 2012
Total Sanitation Campaign to provide sanitation in all rural areas of Bihar by 2012 has not been up to the mark, according to a CAG report. Principal Accountant General (Bihar) Preman Dinaraj told reporters today that the programme, launched by the Centre in 1999 and was to be implemented in a time-bound manner, suffered at various stages due to the non-availability of reliable baseline data and slow and tardy implementation. The other problems faced by the programme were expenditure on various components, deficient information on education and communication activities, lack of community participation and proper monitoring. The Centre had approved Rs 1967.11 crore for all 38 districts of the state for the programme but the expenditure against available funds ranged between 20 and 54 per cent during 2005-10, the CAG said in its report for the period ended on March 31, 2010. An amount of Rs 13.45 crore out of Rs 26.40 crore released as state share during December 2007 and March 2010 for the programme in the state was utilised for construction of latrines for above poverty line families in Bihar in contravention of the guidelines, it said.
Three held for killings at MP's house in Bihar
Three people were arrested Thursday for the gunning down of three people at the house of a Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) MP in Bihar, police said.Five gunmen barged into the house of RJD MP Umashanar Singh in Chhapra town Wednesday and opened random fire. The victims were identified as Vinod Singh, Mani Bhushan Singh and Dinesh Yadav -- all known supporters of Singh.
"Interrogation of the arrested three arrested men is on," a police official said.
Saran district Deputy Inspector General (DIG) Sunil Kumar told that police have got some breakthrough in the case.
Singh, elected to the Lok Sabha from Maharajganj, was not in his house when the attack took place. He did not rule out political conspiracy behind the incident.
Police said it appeared the attackers used AK-47s to open fire inside the house.
"Interrogation of the arrested three arrested men is on," a police official said.
Saran district Deputy Inspector General (DIG) Sunil Kumar told that police have got some breakthrough in the case.
Singh, elected to the Lok Sabha from Maharajganj, was not in his house when the attack took place. He did not rule out political conspiracy behind the incident.
Police said it appeared the attackers used AK-47s to open fire inside the house.
Friday 17 September 2010
Voters list recovered from Bihar jail
A voters list, a mobile phone and some cash were seized from inmates of a Bihar jail early Saturday, police said.
The four-page voters list and other objectionable items were recovered from the Siwan district jail in Siwan district.
"During a surprise raid, we recovered a voters list ahead of the upcoming assembly polls," a police official told on phone.
The four-page voters list and other objectionable items were recovered from the Siwan district jail in Siwan district.
"During a surprise raid, we recovered a voters list ahead of the upcoming assembly polls," a police official told on phone.
Tuesday 9 February 2010
Unpaid their salaries for last 17 yrs
In what could be termed as an unimaginable shocker from Bihar. A few state government employees claim they haven't been paid their salaries for last 17 yrs.
One such state government employee is Satya Narayan Mahto who hasn’t been paid salalary for 17 years.
"I stopped getting my salary 15-16 years back. To add to that my kidney has got damaged. I have no money for medical treatment," says Mahto.
The poor economic condition has forced his wife to work as a domestic help.
But Mahto is not alone. About twelve thousand government employees and their families in Bihar are going through the same ordeal. Already three thousand of them have died due to poverty and starvation.
"I am suffering from TB. My eyesight is now affected as I couldn't afford treatment for my eyes," says Amrendra Kishore, another employee.
During the elections, both the Janata Dal (United) and the BJP promised to address their concerns. But, once voted to office, they failed to act.
"There are lots of complications. The Congress party, which was in power, failed to keep proper records. We don't know how many employees are affected," says Sushil Kumar Modi, Deputy Chief Minister.
The employees have been on a dharna for 6 months hoping to draw the attention of Modi and Nitish Kumar...the same leaders who once sat with them in protest during 15 years of RJD rule.link
One such state government employee is Satya Narayan Mahto who hasn’t been paid salalary for 17 years.
"I stopped getting my salary 15-16 years back. To add to that my kidney has got damaged. I have no money for medical treatment," says Mahto.
The poor economic condition has forced his wife to work as a domestic help.
But Mahto is not alone. About twelve thousand government employees and their families in Bihar are going through the same ordeal. Already three thousand of them have died due to poverty and starvation.
"I am suffering from TB. My eyesight is now affected as I couldn't afford treatment for my eyes," says Amrendra Kishore, another employee.
During the elections, both the Janata Dal (United) and the BJP promised to address their concerns. But, once voted to office, they failed to act.
"There are lots of complications. The Congress party, which was in power, failed to keep proper records. We don't know how many employees are affected," says Sushil Kumar Modi, Deputy Chief Minister.
The employees have been on a dharna for 6 months hoping to draw the attention of Modi and Nitish Kumar...the same leaders who once sat with them in protest during 15 years of RJD rule.link
Friday 5 February 2010
Bihar’s success story is incomplete
Bihar has been in the news recently for recording an average growth rate of 11.3 per cent for the period between 2004 and 2009. Much has been written about the quality of governance and the improved state of roads. This is indeed commendable, and no mean achievement, for a State that had virtually become a “development outcast”. Bihar the great improvement made in providing more schools and notably, a huge effort to tackle the complex issue of child labour.
The script for Bihar’s success story is incomplete, however. The State has the dubious distinction of having one of the highest rates of child mortality in India. Out of every 1,000 children born in Bihar, 85 will not live to see their fifth birthday (according to the third National Family Health Survey). The deaths of a third of these children are associated with malnutrition. In fact, the Citizen’s Alliance against Malnutrition states that over 58 per cent of children in Bihar are malnourished. And the State, despite spending crores of rupees on improving the state of the roads, has failed to utilise the funds allotted to it under the Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) which is mandated with tackling under-nutrition among children under six years of age.
The anomaly between impressive economic growth and the appalling rates of child mortality and underweight children is not peculiar to Bihar. The country as a whole has recorded an impressive economic growth (real GDP per capita grew by 3.95 per cent per year between 1980 and 2005). Yet, the percentage of underweight children under 3 went down by just six per cent from 52 per cent in 1992-93 to 46 per cent in 2005-06. Evidence suggests that for every 3-4 per cent increase in per capita income, underweight rate should decline by one per cent. This has not been the case in India.
At the present rate of progress, India will reach the Millennium Development Goal 1 target on eradicating extreme hunger only by 2043.
As we move to greater economic growth rates, the challenge we face is to make this growth more inclusive, ensuring that all of us, especially the most disadvantaged and marginalised groups benefit from this economic growth. Children especially must see the benefits of this growth now if we are to sustain economic growth in the future.
The reality in 2010 is that almost 50 per cent of India’s children are malnourished. In the nation’s capital alone, 42.2 per cent of children under five are stunted and a shocking 26.1 per cent are underweight.
Malnutrition stunts physical, mental and cognitive growth and makes children more susceptible to respiratory and diarrhoeal illnesses. Malnourished children are more likely to die as a result of common and easily preventable childhood diseases than those who are adequately nourished. According to a UNICEF report, 1.95 million children below the age of five die annually in India mainly from preventable causes that are directly or indirectly attributable to malnutrition. The children who survive the ravages of malnutrition are more vulnerable to infection, do not reach their full height potential and experience impaired cognitive development. This means they do less well in school, earn less as adults and contribute less to the economy.
While we have impressive policies and schemes such as the ICDS, these have not made a significant impact. The ICDS needs to reach the poorest and most excluded groups who need it the most, both in rural and urban areas. This is not the case however. Only 28.4 pc of children under six are able to access services provided by an anganwadi centre. Just in Delhi alone, for example, only 8.4 per cent of children under six have accessed an anganwadi centre.
India spends less than five per cent of the annual budget on children. The 2009-10 Union Budget earmarked 4.15 per cent on children! This, in a country where 447 million people are aged 18 and below! Of the total budgetary allocation on children, a mere 11.1 per cent is for child health schemes.
It is the poorest children in the poorest communities who experience much more malnutrition than their better-off counterparts. And yet, existing national nutrition plans barely tackle the socio-economic causes of the problem.
There is an assumption that economic growth will solve the problem of malnutrition but, in fact, economic growth often fails to reduce poverty. The economic causes of malnutrition are set to deepen: food prices remain high and are expected to stay high, the economic downturn is pushing millions more into poverty and climate change is causing an increasing number of extreme climatic events that devastate livelihoods and lead to destitution.
We have good policies and schemes in place. The time has come to implement these and more importantly, monitor their implementation. A task group on nutrition was set up by the Prime Minister’s Office in October 2008 but it appears that it has not yet met. We know which districts are hardest hit, we need to reach those districts and build the capacities of local health and nutrition workers to deliver effective services. We need to ensure greater convergence between the ministries that have responsibility for tackling malnutrition so that we have integrated plans at the district and panchayat levels to reach the communities that need it the most.
In the third century BC, Patna was the greatest city in India; the seat of the Maurya dynasty with Emperor Ashoka at the helm. Ashoka was arguably one of our greatest and most forward thinking leaders, who believed in inclusive development. If Bihar pays attention to social development ensuring that its economic growth benefits its most excluded groups and minorities, it may yet again lead the way for other States. link
The script for Bihar’s success story is incomplete, however. The State has the dubious distinction of having one of the highest rates of child mortality in India. Out of every 1,000 children born in Bihar, 85 will not live to see their fifth birthday (according to the third National Family Health Survey). The deaths of a third of these children are associated with malnutrition. In fact, the Citizen’s Alliance against Malnutrition states that over 58 per cent of children in Bihar are malnourished. And the State, despite spending crores of rupees on improving the state of the roads, has failed to utilise the funds allotted to it under the Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) which is mandated with tackling under-nutrition among children under six years of age.
The anomaly between impressive economic growth and the appalling rates of child mortality and underweight children is not peculiar to Bihar. The country as a whole has recorded an impressive economic growth (real GDP per capita grew by 3.95 per cent per year between 1980 and 2005). Yet, the percentage of underweight children under 3 went down by just six per cent from 52 per cent in 1992-93 to 46 per cent in 2005-06. Evidence suggests that for every 3-4 per cent increase in per capita income, underweight rate should decline by one per cent. This has not been the case in India.
At the present rate of progress, India will reach the Millennium Development Goal 1 target on eradicating extreme hunger only by 2043.
As we move to greater economic growth rates, the challenge we face is to make this growth more inclusive, ensuring that all of us, especially the most disadvantaged and marginalised groups benefit from this economic growth. Children especially must see the benefits of this growth now if we are to sustain economic growth in the future.
The reality in 2010 is that almost 50 per cent of India’s children are malnourished. In the nation’s capital alone, 42.2 per cent of children under five are stunted and a shocking 26.1 per cent are underweight.
Malnutrition stunts physical, mental and cognitive growth and makes children more susceptible to respiratory and diarrhoeal illnesses. Malnourished children are more likely to die as a result of common and easily preventable childhood diseases than those who are adequately nourished. According to a UNICEF report, 1.95 million children below the age of five die annually in India mainly from preventable causes that are directly or indirectly attributable to malnutrition. The children who survive the ravages of malnutrition are more vulnerable to infection, do not reach their full height potential and experience impaired cognitive development. This means they do less well in school, earn less as adults and contribute less to the economy.
While we have impressive policies and schemes such as the ICDS, these have not made a significant impact. The ICDS needs to reach the poorest and most excluded groups who need it the most, both in rural and urban areas. This is not the case however. Only 28.4 pc of children under six are able to access services provided by an anganwadi centre. Just in Delhi alone, for example, only 8.4 per cent of children under six have accessed an anganwadi centre.
India spends less than five per cent of the annual budget on children. The 2009-10 Union Budget earmarked 4.15 per cent on children! This, in a country where 447 million people are aged 18 and below! Of the total budgetary allocation on children, a mere 11.1 per cent is for child health schemes.
It is the poorest children in the poorest communities who experience much more malnutrition than their better-off counterparts. And yet, existing national nutrition plans barely tackle the socio-economic causes of the problem.
There is an assumption that economic growth will solve the problem of malnutrition but, in fact, economic growth often fails to reduce poverty. The economic causes of malnutrition are set to deepen: food prices remain high and are expected to stay high, the economic downturn is pushing millions more into poverty and climate change is causing an increasing number of extreme climatic events that devastate livelihoods and lead to destitution.
We have good policies and schemes in place. The time has come to implement these and more importantly, monitor their implementation. A task group on nutrition was set up by the Prime Minister’s Office in October 2008 but it appears that it has not yet met. We know which districts are hardest hit, we need to reach those districts and build the capacities of local health and nutrition workers to deliver effective services. We need to ensure greater convergence between the ministries that have responsibility for tackling malnutrition so that we have integrated plans at the district and panchayat levels to reach the communities that need it the most.
In the third century BC, Patna was the greatest city in India; the seat of the Maurya dynasty with Emperor Ashoka at the helm. Ashoka was arguably one of our greatest and most forward thinking leaders, who believed in inclusive development. If Bihar pays attention to social development ensuring that its economic growth benefits its most excluded groups and minorities, it may yet again lead the way for other States. link
Thursday 4 February 2010
Six get life term for murder
A local court today convicted six persons in a murder case and awarded a life sentence to them.
Additional District and Sessions Judge Muralidhar slapped a sum of Rs 6,000 each on them after they were found guilty of killing Amarnath Singh of Ghooshkaul village in Bihar's Darbhanga district.
The convicts had killed Amarnath Singh by strangulating him on November 15, 1995 following a land dispute.link
Additional District and Sessions Judge Muralidhar slapped a sum of Rs 6,000 each on them after they were found guilty of killing Amarnath Singh of Ghooshkaul village in Bihar's Darbhanga district.
The convicts had killed Amarnath Singh by strangulating him on November 15, 1995 following a land dispute.link
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