Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar on Friday turned a ceremony for releasing his government’s five-year “report card” into a tour de force, zealously painting a picture of unprecedented developments in all spheres in Bihar and announcing several schemes, including sops for farmers, cops and even journalists.
The report card in Hindi and Urdu — English version not distributed this time for “printing troubles” — is the fifth presented so far by the JD(U)-BJP government led by Mr Kumar in its ongoing tenure of four years and seven months.
The government claimed that control of crime, speeding up of the judicial machinery, eradication of social tensions, spreading education among school-age children and bringing economic prosperity were foremost among its achievements.
Flanked by deputy chief minister Sushil Kumar Modi and road construction minister Prem Kumar — both of the BJP — Mr Kumar said his government’s “dedicated journey of bringing Bihar back on the tracks” was a satisfying experience because of the cooperation from all arms of the government and all sections of the society — and despite unappreciative Opposition parties and natural disasters like two floods and a drought.
“There are so many stories of our government’s success. Now I feel the train has come back on the tracks. Bihar’s people are realising the change and living this change,” said a confident Mr Kumar. “Earlier Bihar was the talk of the nation for its carnages, but now the state gets discussed for its growth rate. Some people tried in vain to dispute the growth figures, but some latest figures for 2008-09 would cause them more distress,” said Mr Kumar, referring to a new set of CSIO data.
Between January 2006 and June 2010, over 49,612 criminals have been convicted and sentenced in Bihar, said Mr Kumar. “People no longer fear criminals; the criminals fear the law in Bihar now,” he said. He also patted his government’s back for the development of basic infrastructure in fields like health and education and development of human resources.