I
would like to join issue with you on
this.
Indeed, Nitish Kumar is not as
business friendly as one would like
him to be. However, as CM, he is
entitled to his views. After all, he
will implement the policies that he
believes in, not what you are I will
like him to. Also, he is privy to
the ground situation much more than
what we who are outside Bihar are.
As the saying goes, politics is the
art of the possible. Maybe he feels
if he pushes the business agenda
harder, the situation may break
down.
The changes that have come about in
Bihar in the last three odd years
cannot be dismissed. Kidnapping is
much in control. Law and order
situation is very much better. Road
condition is much improved. The
primary health centres in the rural
areas are functioning well. The
schemes to provide bicycles to
school going girls in rural Bihar is
nothing short of a revolution. In
the 70's when I was resident in
Patna, people would gape at any lady
who would be riding a cycle or a
scooter or even a car. I saw scores
of girls riding bicycles in rural
areas when I recently travelled from
Patna to Sultangunj by road.
Indeed there will be problems like
the DM putting an RTI seeker to jail
or other depressing news. Question
is whether we would like to see the
glass as half empty or half full.
You talk of 685 engineering colleges
in AP. But how many of them are
producing employable graduates? As
an IT guy, I can tell you, there is
a definite quality issue with a vast
majority of these graduates. A
recent study by NASSCOM put the
percent of employable engineering
graduates at less than 25%. In this
scenario, isn't it heartening that
NIT Patna is having near 100%
placement?
Indeed, all of us would like to see
the pace of change to be much
faster. However, let us not get into
a negative mood. The first few steps
are always the most difficult and
the pace of change is much slower.
Once the momentum picks up, things
move much faster.
I for one am extremely positive
about Bihar.
Warm regards. - Thakur Vikas
Sinha - Aug. 19, 2008
With all due respect to you Mr.
Indra, I am a little surprised by
your negative attitude.
I wholeheartedly agree that Bihar
has not turned into another
Karnataka or Haryana under the 3
years of Nitish regime but do you
honestly believe that there is a
magic wand that would solve all the
problems of Bihar in 3 years?
But that's besides the point;
whatever happened to the tenet of
'ask not what your country can do
for you; ask what you can do for
your country'?
All we do is moan and groan and
complain and pass the blame. When
was the last time one of us, you
included, did anything for Bihar
that affected hundreds of lives?
I am a longtime visitor of
PatnaDaily.Com and like many others,
I am also very impressed with their
new design. I liked PD before and I
like it even more now. This site is
an example of 'Doing Something' and
taking matter in one's own hand to
make a difference. As far as I can
gather, PatnaDaily is owned by some
individuals (as mentioned in its
recent editorial) and not by the
government or a large media house.
These people (the owners of
PatnaDaily.Com) found a vacuum,
visualized the idea, did their
homework and put up a web site that
all of us are today enjoying, not to
mention giving voice to a lot of
Biharis.
Super-30's Abhayanand also comes in
mind. They did not complain or whine
about the failure of the government,
they just went ahead with their idea
and the rest is history. These
people are the real heroes.
Over the years I have read all of
your articles on PatnaDaily and have
come to respect you but merely
complaining about a failed
government would do no good to
anyone. I would rather see you fold
up your sleeves, jump into some sort
of noble project that dramatically
changes the lives of the people of
Bihar. If we all had that attitude,
we wouldn't be so much dependent on
the government. What's that line in
Bhagwadgita - do your work and don't
worry about the result...?
As Barack Obama would say - "Yes We
Can"!
With regards. - Aninda Bose -
Aug. 19, 2008
Let me assure those who put their
comments on my write-up on Bihar
that even at 69+, I am quite
optimistic about Bihar and so I kept
on writing mostly positive stories
on Dashrath and Lalmuni Devi in
PatnaDaily.Com itself.
I will refer to only two things.
First, the list of project proposals
on Bihar government official
website. Can some one say why can’t
it be updated and why can’t in last
two and a half year, even some have
taken some concrete shape? The
website data does hardly inspire.
Most of the entrepreneurs in the
list appear to be those who fly by
night and take advantages of the
corruption in the government like
the old-timers of license Raj days.
Second, many things are certainly
happening, but villages like my own
is not going to get electrified very
soon, though I got a ray of hope
with poles all around in 1967. I
wish I were wrong. I wish Nitish had
changed Bihar the way Chandra Babu
did. Today, Hyderabad is competing
with Bangalore.
However, if the readers wish to read
some good story, here is one written
by Madhav Chavan, co-founder,
Pratham:
“Shivpur is a small village in Dehri
block of Rohtas district in Bihar.
The efforts of Ram Pyare Singh, a
locally-educated son of a landless
labourer, have led to something
close to a miracle here. I am
convinced that although the entire
miracle cannot be fully replicated,
large elements of it can be.
This village got a school in 1999,
but it was not until 2003-04 that
they actually got money to build
their own school. The school has a
standard Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan
design, but there is something more.
The campus, enclosed by a wall, is
clean and the playground is flat. No
rocks, no pebbles, no garbage. There
are trees planted all around and
extra care is evident everywhere. At
9:30 in the night, girls in the
residential bridge class were
studying in the rooms constructed
especially for them. It was not for
show. The girls were having a good
time and were completely oblivious
to anyone else around.
Unlike any other village I have
seen, the villagers have constructed
a separate space for a mid-day meal
kitchen, with a separate enclosure
for the children to eat. The
villagers claimed they have
collected about Rs 17 lakh from
locals and those who work in the
cities, in addition to the funds
provided by the government. There
are 480-odd children studying in
class I to VIII. There is no private
school in the village. The only
teacher employed by the government
in this school is the head teacher.
It is not because of neglect. It is
partly by design. So, who teaches
the children? Educated villagers and
alumni of the school volunteer their
time. Who trains them? The head
teacher takes care of that. Although
the school is only up to class VIII,
they make sure all children in the
village pass class X. Do they want
the government to appoint more
teachers? Ram Pyare Singh smiles his
hesitation, but the answer is a
clear ‘no’. But, would it help if
the government gave funds to pay
teachers that they appoint? There is
no problem as long as it does not
come with bureaucratic hassles and
controls. What if the government
worked out a per-child cost—say Rs
3,000 per year per child—and
transferred it to the Panchayat or
the Vidyalaya Shiksha Samiti to take
care of all expenses? Yes, that
would work.” - Indra - Aug. 20,
2008
The number of engineering colleges
in Andhra Pradesh is 494, to be
precise. This is finding of
newspaper ‘Hindu’ Sunday, Jul 13,
2008 edition. And, by the way,
everybody is aware of the quality of
such engineering graduated. They are
treated as just simple Science
graduates in industry.
Refer:
http://www.hindu.com/2008/07/13/stories/2008071359260500.htm.
- Anup Kumar, Bangalore -
Aug. 22, 2008
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