BIHAR : The Road Ahead

Having spent over 200 sleepless nights since they came to power and promised to create a "new Bihar", Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and his deputy Sushil Kumar Modi have realised that it's easier said than done. But they have not lost hope. Says Nitish, "We started from a big zero. There was no governance. Even Cabinet meetings were not held for months. Now I am taking post-facto (Cabinet) decisions." Modi admits, "This might not have happened if Lalu had continued as the chief minister. Rabri Devi just did not understand what governance meant. She simply messed up everything." Clearly, the government is not only performing the task it has assigned to itself but is also clearing the mess it believes was left behind by the Lalu-Rabri combine.
These are only "teething troubles", insists Nitish. He spends the day in the secretariat with officials and burns the midnight oil alone in his massive Anne Marg bungalow, drawing up plans for a "better tomorrow" with a notebook on his table and a huge plasma TV on the wall facing his revolving chair. He has already turned the chief minister's residence into a hi-tech complex. Gone are the cow sheds in the backyard where Lalu's Jersey cows, buffaloes and horses used to live in luxury. They will soon be replaced by halls for a Janta Durbar. The famous outhouse from where Lalu used to hold court will be turned into a conference room with video-conferencing facilities.
The Nitish government is also giving the Secretariat a new look in tune with his corporate style. The chambers of the chief minister, deputy chief minister, ministers and top bureaucrats have been refurbished and their old Ambassador cars are being replaced with spanking new Scorpios. Both Nitish and Modi firmly believe that the "first impression is the last impression" and they have investors to impress. No wonder paan stains have disappeared from walls and staircases.
It was social justice for Lalu. For Nitish, the only invigorating thing is development. "Social justice does not mean hollow vote bank politics. It should mean politics of economics," Modi asserts. Nitish adds: "A lot is being done. What can I do if you don't see it? I work for 12-13 hours a day. The entire state machinery is trying hard to bring Bihar back on track."

LALU'S LEGACY
Two-thirds of the posts of engineers are lying vacant along with the posts of chief engineers and superintendents.
Seventy per cent of engineers are facing vigilance enquiries; two-thirds are involved in the bitumen scam and can't be promoted to fill senior level posts.
Ninety per cent of contractors have migrated to other states due to lawlessness in Bihar. No bids have been received for building of roads. The state does not even have a hot-mixing plant.
About 50 per cent of block development officers' posts are vacant, while the chairman of the Public Service Commission is in jail on corruption charges.

Nitish Kumar can go on explaining his mission in a tone varying from hope to despair: "We spent the first six months giving shape to a system that had been erased in the past in a systematic manner. Even on the law and order front we have made a mark. Our tough stand has sent shivers down the spines of the criminals and dons. The government adopted a very simple approach that worked-instead of clubbing all the sections of the Indian Penal Code and Criminal Penal Code together, the administration picked up offences committed under the Arms' Act and trials began leading to quick convictions. Under the Arms' Act, sentences range from three to seven years. Since in most of the cases the criminals had used arms, the Arms' Act cases were initiated first. Once the criminals were in jail under one Act, other offences like kidnapping, dacoity and robberies were taken up and tried."
The government, according to the chief minister, has successfully smashed the parallel economy and 'goonda banks' controlled by the mafia and kidnappers. Even Union Finance Minister P. Chidambaram was shocked to know about 'goonda banks' that were flourishing because nationalised banks were not lending. "A bank is not a bank if it does not provide loans to the needy," he said in Patna recently.
Nitish talks of another path-breaking experiment to control law and order. The police force was understaffed, ill-equipped and ill-trained, so the government hired over 5,000 retired army men, gave them uniforms and weapons and deployed them in sensitive pockets. "Recruitment, training and induction of new police personnel will take a minimum of two years while the law and order situation demands immediate attention. It's not only our priority but also a prerequisite for development and investment." The result is obvious. The recent 10-phase panchayat polls did not, for the first time, see much of violence. While the 2001 polls had witnessed 1,409 violent incidents and killing of 90 people, this time there were only 52 incidents and 16 fatalities.
On its very first day, the Nitish Government had promised that construction of roads and bridges would start immediately with the help of unused state and central funds. Asked if the chief minister had forgotten his promise, he confides, "One cannot realise the problems. It's easier to blame this government than to understand the kind of teething troubles we are facing. Two-thirds of the posts of engineers are vacant, the posts of chief engineers and superintendent engineers in many departments are vacant, and there are no engineers even to prepare project reports. These posts are filled through promotions, but 70 per cent of the engineers are facing vigilance inquiries and about two-thirds of them are involved in the bitumen scam (1996-97 era). They can't be promoted. Engineers can't be imported either. Due to lack of economic activity and lawlessness in the past 15 years, over 90 per cent of big contractors have migrated to other states. Despite repeated tender notices no bids have been received for building of roads. Bihar does not even have hot-mixing plants. But we have found a way out-all development work in a district are being clubbed together to attract outside contractors, hot-mixing plants are being purchased and will be leased to contractors to start work. About 50 per cent of the posts of block development officers, who are responsible for development at the village level, were vacant while the chairman of the Public Service Commission was in jail on corruption charges."
This is the Lalu legacy of ruin. The change is slow, but visible. The 12th Finance Commission has sanctioned Rs 13,000 crore per year (Rs 65,000 crore in all) for five years for development work, the highest allocation among all states. Rs 300 crore extra per year will be spent on creating infrastructure in health and education. To make Bihar a modern state, an administrative reforms commission and investment and infrastructure boards have been set up. The state planning board, which was dormant for years, has been revived. A Birla Institute of Technology and a National Law College are being opened in the state. President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam is personally interested in reviving the glory of Nalanda, the seat of learning in ancient days. In a bid to end agrarian unrest and help landless peasants, there will soon be a Bihar Land Reforms Commission.
What worries this government the most is the absence of good officers. Says Modi, "If we could get just 40 good young and active IAS officers to be posted as district magistrates and a dozen good hardworking senior officers to man important departments as secretaries, things would automatically brighten up." Unmindful of the criticism, Nitish and Modi live with hope: "Bihar can't be rebuilt in a day." And the people still have faith in the new power couple of the state.