Nitish sets target: Bihar to be among best States by 2015

Nitish sets target: Bihar to be among best States by 2015

Chief Minister Nitish Kumar said that during the last six years of his Government a lot has been done to bring Bihar back on track. Nitish on Friday counted achievements of his Government, laid out road map for future and strongly opposed the Cabinet decision on Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in retail. Nitish also declared that he would bring a land reform Bill in the coming Assembly session to undertake a survey of all land related problems in three years.

A lot has been done on law and order, education, health, road construction and transport, rural development, social justice, women empowerment, minority welfare and other sectors, Nitish said, adding, “But we’ve not stopped here and satisfied…still there is a lot to be done and we constantly think what else needs to be done for the mantra of our Government ‘development with justice’.”

Every year, Nitish releases his Government’s yearly report card for the people of the State to know what it has done in the year for their welfare. “Bihar is the only State which releases its report every year”, said Deputy Chief Minister Shushil Kumar Modi on the occasion.

Nitish also declared what he wanted to do and what needed to be done for the overall development of the State. “Our focus in the coming days will be on agriculture for its rainbow revolution ad mission human development”, he said. He also strongly opposed the Centre’s decision to allow FDI in retail. “It’s another assault on common people by the Central Government. It will escalate unemployment in the country”, he asserted.

Nitish said he was the one who had earlier opposed SEZ in Bihar and “I would continue opposing any multinationals’ entry into agriculture sector”. “This step of the Centre will be a big assault on local entrepreneurs and common people…unke pet per laat hai yeh FDI ka decision”, Nitish said in strong words.

When asked about land-related problems in the State, Nitish declared that he would bring a new land reform Bill in the coming session of the Assembly for a complete survey on land records and problems. “In three years, the survey with all records of land and land-related works will be done. The records will be updated and the problem areas will be addressed”, Nitish declared. He explained that since “land-related complaints pour in abundance, which if left unaddressed, will eventually lead to law and order problem”.

Nitish also said a strong Lokayukta Bill will be brought in the coming session. “Our Government’s commitment is zero tolerance on corruption and we’ll take every step to eliminate it from governance”, he said.

Making reference to the newly launched Right to Service Act (RTS) in the State, Nitish said about 50 lakh applications have been received under this Act for redressal. “And out of 50 lakh, 32 lakh applications are only for caste, income and residence certificates. So we’ve decided to start online submission of these three certificates from December 1”, informed Nitish. He also announced extension of university teachers retirement age from 62 to 65 years and patrakarita samman yojna for journalists in the State.

“Besides, we’ve also decided to achieve 15 per cent green coverage target for the State. And, now every Government work, schemes regarding procurement and construction above `10 lakh will be put on website”, he declared.

Demanding “special category status for Bihar”, Nitish in his 84-page report hoped that by 2015 Bihar should take its place among the best States of the country and play an important role in strengthening of the nation.

Earlier, Shushil Kumar Modi spelled out two tasks which need to be addressed by the Government in future: First, simplification of the process of work and to end corruption at lower level in bureaucracy. “Through our sustained effort Bihar has been brought back on track and now it needs to get momentum to get speed”, said Modi while reading his message through the lines of noted poet Harivanshrai Bachchan.

Meanwhile, opposition RJD leader Lalu Prasad has declared to expose the real face of Nitish Government and his report card in his party release on Saturday. “Report card ek dhoka hai, janata ke naam…hum kal jari karenge sacchai”, Lalu declared.