Bring it Online

While it may be true across the globe, one thing that we must emphasize in the Bihar Education, the need of getting the kids & Teachers online. Bringing someone online is not just about providing a computer or a laptop with an internet  connection. Its whole lot of improved state of affairs that one needs to envisage by getting the Teaching & Student community on the talking terms on a daily basis across the State/Country/World. One of the impediments of today's education system is that of being obsolete as well as conventionally disconnected, to the extent that, students have to be highly dependent upon the physical presence of the teachers for solving their issues, at the location where they reside.

Few initiatives that I think could help overcome this issue & also make the state education a whole lot more interactive:

1- Link all of the existing Educational Institutions across the state thru a WLAN - This can be done by first classifying the schools on parameters if they belong to Primary, Secondary, Higher Secondary, Higher Education, Vocational etc. With this, you reduce the dependency on the school teachers who are limited by location. All these teachers can be provided with the necessary education on computer usage & can be provided laptops to be able to interact more with the kids. One might think that all teachers may not have the inclination to do that but even if 15-20% can do that, it will be great success & help to the student community immensely. This would also help teachers teach, thru live meetings, at those schools where there is an acute shortage of qualified teachers. Not just those, one can rather tap some volunteers from colleges to teach the Primary or Secondary kids. It can rather be in their curriculum as well.

2- Provide schools with wide range of computer system & encourage computer loans to them over a 3-5 year duration that they are in higher education. This subsidy & long term loan terms can help students have their own Laptops, besides the computer, that they are provided with during the day time within college. This will not only let students talk to the students from other colleges/schools rather they can talk to teachers from across locations of the state. All must have a login ID for all to remove the iota of doubt for ill usage of such system.

3- Like a text library, create an online library with a central server repository of all knowledge from all schools coming & residing in there. This repository can be used & enhanced by the student community themselves on the lines of Wikipedia. Creating an Online directory of such sort will not just help publish the articles to the rest of the world but would also help attract reviews & critique to make it even better. Projects of wider influence can be used for Consultancy work by the colleges / universities & thus create a self-sustainability instead of depending upon state government funds for its functioning. It may take a while to develop this as a strategy but once there, there is a no looking back.

4- Create Social Outreach Programs, as part of Student curriculum, as a must for all students of all ages starting from Primary. Whatever they do as project of social relevance needs to be put into the repository. Once a project is done & implemented in one place, others can enhance it by making changes or implementing the same way in other parts. Remember to make the projects more interactive rather putting 100/1000's of text. This can also help create programs that are cross cultural, cross geographical rather than limited to a small place. District authorities can be provided a link to such projects to see if they can also benefit from some good ideas.

5- Online Blogging & Chat facility would not just help the students work more speedily on research ideas but also the ideation would take the minutest of time to spread across miles. This will help students engage lot more than what they today. Getting an able administrator to create statistical analysis could also help government find what the areas of maximum interest are for students, what areas are they really finding difficult to get the right help & like wise. This can help the government focus on the needs in a more relevant way.

6- Creating a group of schools on Mentor --> Mentee relationship will always help drive towards achieving the results much faster. There needs to be an autonomous body to see thru the success of such programs. Virtual tours are a very important facet of projecting yourself. Schools/Colleges/Universities can do this in a more effective way to create their own programs & making a virtual world full of knowledge.

Professionals like Abhayanand, Anand Kumar & many learned academicians today relentlessly help few thousands students thru their Super 30 & other programs but with the above structure, they may be able to help lacs of them. Dependency upon high fee based Private tuition may disappear over the next 4-5 years, if not immediately. I would be more than happy to volunteer for such project with support from like-minded people across Bihar residing in various parts of Bihar, India & the World, provided the government shows its inclination. It's the youth that will change the Society of tomorrow. If it be for good, will only be decided by what kind of education one gets today, to make a better tomorrow.

Jai Ho 

Year End but Bihar remains where it was

Seems like Bihar has progressed a lot in the last 6-7 years. People say, it could be possible only because of the incumbent chief minister. He brought a sense of security within people, got so many new educational institutions opened like CNLU, CIMP & IITP, created the much needed infrastructure, opened up the tourism sector to en extent now that Patna's Ganga ghat boasts of a small boat cum restaurant, new malls are being opened, established Right to Service, automated almost all of the state government departments, so, hence, a bright shining light is being bestowed upon Bihar's territory. I don't think people have been wrong anyways. Had they not experienced all this, why would they vote for the incumbent CM & his party with such a huge majority. Even I believe, although haven't visited the state for too long barring a small stint last year, that it is all true. At least, that is what my heart keeps pounding upon me, to accept. But the conflict raised by my mind is no less distressing. Now lets look at some of the facts because of which my mind keeps challenging my heart.

1. Bihar's security environment has improved so much that from the period of 2005 to 2010, there has been a rise of 60% in the kidnappings. Largely, the kidnapped people, mainly children, are being killed mercilessly in the absence of the ransom being paid. You may not want to believe me, hence, request you to look at the Bihar Police's website. Twist to the story comes when even the MLA's & MP's are threatned openly thru mobile messages. One must admit, though, that a lot of big criminals are behind bars but what's worrying is that the crime is still on the streets. Makes one believe that only the location has changed & really nothing else. Key Takeaway: What you see is not always the truth
2. New colleges have been opened like CNLU, CIMP & IITP, with a view to encourage students to take up higher studies within the state itself. AMU is in the offing. This is highly appreciated of the government. But the problem comes when one finds that most of the engineering colleges within the state have absolutely no faculty, be it MIT, Muzzafarpur or BEC, Bhagalpur. This said less, students of the CNLU had to go on a strike to attract the CM's attention on the ground situation where they had lost, almost all hopes to find a campus placement. Nalanda was to start but seldom when finds it ever starting given the current state within which it finds itself today. Key Takeaway: Educational Institutions are not established merely by giving away 100 & 200 acres of land. They are made by much desired learned faculty.
3. Infrastructure is created almost everywhere. Roads have connected the villages. As I had indicated, last year I was in Gopalganj, my home district. To my surprise, the road leading to my village was much better 10 years back, than it is today. Anyways, one instance can't be a benchmark of the overall development. So how has it helped? People now have connectivity, they don't have to face the hardships but till the time it generates any income for them, it is of no use. People from Bihar are still migrating. Power sector wa another focus area of the government. So many new deals were signed with NTPC & others. Eventually result is that the cities & villages are still in the same darkness as they used to be. Reasons could be many for their not functioning properly but that remains as a fact today. Such is IT policy that none, absolutely none of the top Indian IT companies still think to make Patna as their hub. You may also find an interesting fact that Bihar engineers come second only to Delhi when it come to employability of good students in the IT/ITES sector based on survey done by Gurgaon based Aspiring Minds. Even after so much is being done, as claimed by the state government, Bihar Planning Commission advisor, Mr Saxena minces no words when he claims that Bihar has been one of the most laggard states to implement various schemes because of which it has forefeited the central subsidy of almost Rs 10,000 crores annually.  Key Takeaway: More than the paperwork, need is to realize the development on the ground for the benefit of people.
4. Right to Service has been created but still the RTI activists are being killed left-right-center. One may argue why are you linking these two things. Tell me, why shouldn't I? An RTI activist would only be killed if he is unearthing Corruption. Corruption can only happen if a service is not being provided to the people correctly / rightly / transparently. Key Takeaway: Point was not to create a law to enforce the executives to service the people. Idea should have been to implement the existing plans effectively. It's part of anyone's job to, at least, do his job. I mean that's why one gets paid, right.

So bright light is really being bestowed upon Bihar but the biggest of all is that Bihar's media sees this light more than anyone else. They see it so much, generally in the dark though, that they leave no stone unturned to write the growing development story of Bihar in their papers, news channels, magazines, almost every day. Issue is they are also made to see this light because if they don't see it, they may not be able to get their salaries from their patrons who are running the channels & the new papers, why? well, for that you will need to read thru the government's expenditure on ads that it runs on various news papers & media channels -:).
So towards the year end, Bihar has grown leaps & bounds & if the story continues the same way, day is not far when Nitish will repeat a Lalu saga with shining Bihar.

Published in Patnadaily.com: http://www.patnadaily.com/index.php/opinions/readers-write/6781-year-ends-but-bihar-remains-where-it-was.html

Jai Bihar

Upcoming Entrepreneurs in Bihar & their Plight

Nitish is the Politician of the year. He also won the Business award from a leading news channel. what else, he is on top of the world but he forgot what is happening just at the backyard of his high profile meetings with businessmen from various industries & across the globe to attract the investors. He is quick to come on a forum & request for investments but has he or his finance minister, Mr Modi ever bothered to ask the entrepreneurs how they are coping with the local administration. It's not that people don't know about it but let me just put that in a perspective. The intent of this blog is not to really take the , whatever, success away of Nitish's achievement, in the last few years, as the CM of Bihar but just an insight of how the young entrepreneurs feel & why is it necessary for him to first listen to them, then, to blow his trumpet all over the world to get more investments into his state.

Gyaneshwar Pandey’s Views (CEO, Husk Power System)

Journalist: So what was the problem?
GP: The cops! I am yet to pay a penny of protection money to goons and nobody has dared to ask me for a bribe, but the police in Bihar are apathetic. So, when someone is trying to steal the electricity we generate, the cops will just look on. My staff, who try and stop the theft, suffer verbal abuse and manhandling. And that is a serious impediment.

Journalist: What is your biggest learning from your years in Bihar?
GP: Differentiate between perception and reality. It isn’t as if the law and order situation is completely normal. Yes, roads have been built, but the government now needs to think ahead and get investments that will be a catalyst for industry and entrepreneurship.

Source: http://business.in.com/interview/close-range/in-bihar-cops-are-the-problem-not-goons/25672/1#ixzz1OdTCbZIi


Kaushalendra’s Views (Kaushalya Foundation)

He gave another example of the Madhya Bihar Gramin Bank's (MBGB) Kankarbagh branch in Patna not disbursing a loan amount.

"It sanctioned a loan for nine AC carts to our nine vendors under the government scheme but they are not disbursing the amount...what I have been able to understand is that the bank is looking for some under-the-table dealing that we never do or promote," the bespectacled youth said.

"The bank always procrastinates on this issue. The manufacturer of the cart is sitting on my head and we are finding ourselves helpless," Kaushlendra added.

"A cheque of Rs.20,000 was deposited in my company account three months back and it has not been credited till date. When we inquired Jan 27 and sent a person to the State Bank of India branch in Hilsa in Nalanda district, we were astonished to find they have debited it to another's account Dec 15, 2010. And till date they have not sent the amount to my bank in Patna," he rued.

"There are many small things that impede the growth of an entrepreneur in Bihar. We cannot compete with entrepreneurs of other states because other support services come at huge indirect and direct costs," Kaushlendra, a topper of the IIM-A's 2007 batch, told IANS in an interview.

Source: http://www.bihartimes.in/Newsbihar/2011/Feb/Newsbihar01Feb2.html


Irfan’s Story (SammaN Foundation)

The young chairman-cum-managing director of Samman Foundation, Irfan Alam, who was last year invited by none else but the United States President Barack Husain Obama had to spent his night in police lock up after he was arrested following a dispute with a software engineer.

What came as a big shock is that Irfan, and three of his associates had to spend night in lock up on the charge of kidnapping when the truth is that the engineer, who alleged that he was assaulted, was recovered from the very office of the Samman Foundation.

Source: http://www.bihartimes.in/Newsbihar/2011/May/Newsbihar15May1.html


Shajendra Bihari Singh’s Story (Russian NRI Businessman)

A non- resident Indian ( NRI) entrepreneur from Bihar got a taste of brute police power in his home state when he and his aged father were beaten up by a probationer IPS officer.

Sajendra Bihari Singh, who runs a restaurant in Russia, accused Jehanabad's assistant superintendent of police ( ASP) Vivek Kumar of assaulting him and his father Brij Bihari Singh while they were driving to their village on Sunday.

Singh, a native of Dharhara in Patna district, alleged he was assaulted and kept in detention for several hours just because he " dared to overtake the officer's vehicle". This gentleman had flown all over from Russia to do something for his home state given that a new state administration had taken over calling people to come forward & do something for their state.

Source: http://www.thebihar.com/bihar-news/asp-who-beat-up-nri-made-sp/

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This may be as a result of the capitalistic overturns being seen in Bihar as against a complete social state for the last 3 decades. But what would you say when a person like Anand Kumar, founder of Super 30, faces death threats from the local education mafia. He had to apply to the govt of Bihar to get security from himself. If he, being a Social educationist, who works for poor students, can face such challenges, then entrepreneurs, be cautious & enter at your own risk.

Jai Bihar

Inter-linking of Rivers, A very Good Initiative by Nitish Kumar

Patna: The Nitish Kumar government has embarked on an ambitious plan to interlink rivers to solve the perennial flood problem and augment irrigation facilities.


Ground work has already started on eight projects, of which five relate to tackling of floods, two to create additional irrigation facility and the last a hydel power plant, the state water resource department's principal secretary Afjal Amanullah said.

Amanullah said that the first such project envisaging interlinking of the Burhi Gandak river with Noon, Baya and Ganga rivers would start by mid-2011-12.

The total estimated cost for the project is above 4 billion and it will come in handy in optimally utilising its water resources, Bihar Water Resources Minister Vijay Chaudhary said.
"The pre-feasibility report for the project is ready and a Detailed Project Report is being prepared by the National Water Development Authority," Chaudhary said. Another project at hand is the interlinking of the Koshi and Mechi rivers which will create additional irrigation facilities in Supaul, Saharsa, Araria, Kishanganj and Purnia. A sum of Rs. 4441.82 crore would be spent on the scheme, he said. In north Bihar, the projects lined up are Budhi Gandak-Non-Baya-Ganga link, Koshi-Bagmati link, Bagmati-Budhi Gandak link and Kohra-Chandrawat link, Chaudhary said. The Koshi-Mechi link project has been conceived for irrigation purpose and the National Water Development Agency has been asked to prepare the detailed project report (DPR) in this regard. The construction of the Budhi Gandak-Baya project may start in the financial year 2011-12 as the 13th Finance Commission sanctioned Rs. 333 crore for the purpose, the minister said.

Similarly, the state government has taken up two river-linking projects in south Bihar aimed at creating additional irrigation facility which are: Dhanaraje-Phulwaria link and Sakri-Nata link, Chaudhary said.

Noting that the DPRs of the two river-linking projects in south Bihar are in the final stages, he said that the execution of the projects might start in 2011-12.

The state government also formulated new irrigation projects under which a second barrage will be constructed at Areraj on river Gandak, while irrigation and water recession projects will also come up at Bagmati and Mokama Taal regions, Chaudhary said.

The availability of per capita water per year has been steadily going down since 1991 in the country and the figure in case of Bihar was more alarming, the minister cautioned.

The people of the state faced a stark prospect of availability of less than 1000 cubic meter per capita by 2015 as against the corresponding figure of 1594 in 2001.

Read more at: http://www.ndtv.com/article/india/bihar-launches-ambitious-river-linking-projects-110016?pfrom=home-India

Quality of Bihar Teachers

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FViBJg6X_24
This is just amazing. Also read my blog below on the same topic.

After Manoje Nath was shunted, Irfan now arrested & assualted

I had written a bit about Manoje Nath when he was shunted couple of years back. After that, it was a DySP, Vivek Kumar, who had severely beaten up a Russian NRI who had come down to Bihar for investing in hotel business. Now it is Irfan who was arrested along with his colleauges, beaten up & later released from lock up on the charges of abducting a person to whom, as Irfan claims, had given advance money to create a site for his business. As the story unfolds, it was a charge of abduction & intent of murdering Navendu, the abductee in question, against Irfan. Hope you remember Irfan. He is the same Irfan, an IIM graduate, who was invited by US President Barack Obama some time back & had won the Business Bazigar award.

The intent of writing here about Irfan is not about trying to convince you whether Irfan is right or wrong. The bigger question is if Irfan was indeed wrong & whatever he did was for the illful purpose of abduction & murder, why the bloody hell the Bihar police released him the very next day instead of filing a criminal charge against him & sending him to the Jail, why is he not produced before the court. Where are the defendants? Navendu had left his house at 1.30 pm for Irfan's office. His father called up the police at around 4.30 pm to register that his son, Navendu, has been abducted. First how did he know that he was abducted at the first place? Just 3 hrs had elapsed. That's quite a common thing. It was also not the case that Navendu was called late in the night. He was pretty much called up in the afternoon. If Irfan had the motive to murder, he would hire goons, why the hell on this earth would he want to do it himself. Even he wanted to, he would, why would he make Navendu sit in office? To wait for the police to come & find him out? I also wonder, Police was able to make out that since the person has not returned within 3 hrs, he would have been abducted while the procedures clearly state that a missing complaint can be registered only after 24 hrs of disappearence. In this case, it was not even disappearence. It was a well known fact that Navendu was with Irfan.

However as the story unfolds a bit further, the Bihar police says, it was the DySp, who had gone to Irfan's office, was misbehaved with. Oh ho, so the point is all about EGO issue again. So there was no question of any abduction & murder rather the DySP's ego that had been chased to death. What is the definition of this mis-behaving. As far as I know the police, it could have been nomore than talking to them at a higher pitch. When I say higher pitch, it just denotes that Irfan may have tried questionning them? That's it. That's more than enough for the Police to take it personally because essentially they know everything. Did he slap the DySP, did he push him, or whatever, these are certain things are are yet to be answered but it doesn't like any different than what DySP Vivek Kumar did with the other NRI too. NRI's car had just taken over DySP's official vehicle. That was enough to incite the DySP. The NRI was beaten up black & Blue. The DYSP went un-punished. Not just that very soon he was promoted to the rank of SP. That's Bihar Police & its administration for you.

The other reason why I tied to create a paralle with Manoje Nath's case is not because the cases are related rather to showcase the type of administration that is being run in Bihar. Every thing that looks hunky-dory from outside actually is not. BSEB chief can go unpunished even after scams upon scams but Bihar is shining. Media takes a minute to put Nitish on the world map for his progressive thought but why was that, just for making roads or re-selling the Sugar mills? Why didn't the national media cover this incident? Infact media won't showcase anything that is bad in Bihar because the star media manager Nitish keeps this departent in his portfolio. If you want to learn how much was spent by Nitish on advertisements & how he keeps control on the media, pl refer this link -- http://www.bihartimes.in/Newsbihar/2011/May/Newsbihar10May1.html.
Students of CNLU are on strike because of no campus placements however the dean has the guts to say that all have been placed & its site keeps beaming about its stature. CIMP has been placed amongst the top 20 management institutes in India, atleast that is what its site shines of, with just 13 full time professors on board. Majority of the instituions don't have faculty but Bihar is shining because every girl child has now a cycle to go to schools. Do you really check the statistics, if not, pl go & try to find out what is the %age of the girl child going to schools & where does it stand out compared to the national average. Goondas are in Jail, Yes they are but can one say that most of the elitist goondas are still not out in the form of your own politician?

Nitish is no doubt a better alternative to Lalu but if the question is if he is the best choice, I have my doubts unless Nitish is able enough to sort these issues specially the ones that show his inaptness as an administrator.

Jai Bihar

Bihar teachers need Serious help!

Society of tomorrow is reflected by the kind of education that one gets today. If that be a benchmark, of how you define the society, Bihar is way behind then. Shiksha Mitras is a good concept however unless it is executed properly the output would be as good as having a "charwaha vidyalaya" & it won't be far that we go back to lantern age yet again. Good thing is that students have atleast started getting education but what is the benefit if the teachers just sit around & chat. I can quote atleast 3-4 examples where I know the teachers personally & by far I don't think they even fit the standard of even being called a teacher. It's not a question of what degree have you got or do you have the basic qualification to become a teacher or not, it's rather a bigger question of wheather you should have been at that position at the first place. To me teaching is not a profession although in most pragmatic terms it may, though, remains so. It's an enthusiasm, it's a committment to focus, It's a charm that one finds onself in while doing so. It's a passion to create future. Obviously it must be paid too, accordingly, for everything has a cost to it. Teachers don't live on air. They are also human beings like us who need good living & food.

Primary teaching apart, if we look at other side of the story too like secondary & even the professional teaching, one would be appalled by the type of teachers that we have or in most of the cases where we don't even have the basic requirement of the number of teachers that we need to have.

Just getting IIM's / IIT's won't help. Get the Basics right first. I know Nitish has already done a lot & it will take some time to set everything straight but one must understand without this you are digging your own grave, even in politics.

Recent Rendevous with Village Elders in Bhitbherwan: My Village

Recently visited Bhitbherwan, my village.  The name must be sounding a little tounge twisting. Well, that's what English has for you. In Saral Hindi, it means "Mitti Ka Ghar". Idea was to celebrate Deepawali with all my uncles & cousins whom I hadn't met in the last 12 years. That was just a reason to meet all. and during one of these meetings started a discussion. So here I was, sorrounded by atleast five of them. All in their late 40's, some even late 60's. What else could be the topic of discussion when elections are on their way? Dad asked his elder bhaiyya, "kekra ke vote bhail ha aa kahan ke sama bandhail ba". well, in simple English it means, whom had he voted & who was going to win? His elder brother or my badka (Sr) Chacha ji started. Although Nitish has been voted but more or less we are not in his favor. why? was my immediate next question! He started off by mentioning about some of Nitish's policies where chakbandi has been proposed & that he was off to take some decisions that were not in favour of the land owners. My village is a Kshatriya polulated village with almost 100 households & rest all are from various other castes & religions including Muslims. Lalu was getting favoured by some of the sections including the Yadavs as they had started seeing their messiah in him after 5 years of rule by Nitish. Their extra grown tooth in Lalu days had been cut short by Nitish which was dis-liked by many in Yadav community but not necessarilly by the Muslims as such. Muslims may have got a special treatment by Lalu but internally I must say he hasn't done anything so good to them which others can't take the pie of doing to them as well during their rule.

My question to him was more to do with what the fuss around chakbandi? We have owned land for so long & there are poor who don't have any bit of that although they are the ones who work there. Moment I asked the question, Chachaji wasn't too surprised rather he answered very confidently & politely. Probably he knew my urban socialist thoughts & respected them instead of shouting at me. The babudom that we have today is what Zamindars were in earlier days. His rational was that the way the babu's make you run for your money today is the same way how Zamindars used to be in those days. Just that the nomenclature has changed. Both do the looting so why such a biased approach against the Zamindars specially when they do give the fair share to the workers who plough & crop their land. His rational was fix the Babu dom & things will fall in shape even without Chakbandi.

For once, I thought, he was mixing up the issue but later on I realized he wasn't saying too much wrong either. The issues that we have in the system are not really caused by the landowners but because a lot of the schemes that have been created for the poor are not reaching them. Good or bad, It's the government that is responsible for not being able to knuckle down the corrupt. Aangan wadi's are created yet the food is not reaching the poor school children, MNREGA was established yet the babu's are pocketing the money & it is not reaching the poor village youth then why target the landowners. Moreover why would one want to give off his land if he has it since ages? Equally for these landowners too their is no other source of income than this land. I felt, for once, their story is just like that of the Mumbai bar dancers who didn't do anything wrong but still were shut down from operating in bars because government felt they are causing much of the bad in the society. Infact when the Government stopped it, is when these bar dancers started doing illegal things. I thought it would be the same thing if the landonwers are forced to part from their land. For once, Government will have to explain it if it doesn't want any untoward incidence in the future by forcibly taking their land instead of checking corruption. This is not mere politics but playing with the livelihood of people & if the state is Bihar, one must be careful.

Overall, people are happy compared to the rule of yesteryears but the corruption has got so much in the system now that one can't breath. So Nitish may win this time on the development wave but I can tell that if he doesn't address this issue, he won't be there for long unless people feel that giving Rs 100 once as bribe is worth until you earn Rs 1000 / month. That was an eyeopener for me. By this time, people  had started retiring for lunch & the discussion was left as it is, may be to start when we all would meet again (which typically happened quite often during those 3-4 days of my stay)

By the way, above all, everyone wanted me to come back & build a house in village than making it in some other city like many of village youth. For them, it is the village where you should be respected than buying a piece of land or house elsewhere. Have been pondering over that since then!!

Baher se dekhne main aur game Khelne main Bahut Antar Hai Mukhya Mantri Ji

While Chidambaram was trying to devise a strategy with all naxalite affected state Chief ministers, Nitish was off in Patna, thinking that giving 2 cents of "Gyan" would help avert any possible attacks of such nature in Bihar itself. Not just that he didn't attend the meeting, he also gave a piece of advice to Home minister that Maoists are part of the mainstream & that they shall be dealt with differently.
When the same Nitish is encountered with a catch 22 situation in Bihar with the Maoists abducting 4 policemen (1 now being killed), he is looking for advice from all people & has even called for a all party meeting.
whether Chidambaram was right or wrong then is a separate issue to discuss but it does now raise a question to Nitish that it is really different watching the game from outside while playing it, is really a tough ask. He is now at trying to be at wits end to determine what is the best approach. Good that he takes some lessons from it now.

What's needed in Bihar?

Not sure how much will I be correct in my assumptions however going by what I see in Bihar there is a need to do a few things very quickly:


Re-surgence of a political party that works beyond castes & religions: An area where Bihar has always lagged. I go to various sites (bihar related) where I see Bihar's youth fighting over like hell. Starts with a common goal discussion & suddenly you will find, in the midst, political debates ranging from Lalu to Nitish along with all abuses. So politically charged is Bihar's youth today that education is at the back burner. Irrespective of what the discussion is, it will move towards caste discussions & like wise. Unless, Bihar is able to provide a better governed party which focuses mainly of key issues, Bihar youth would most likely even wander like this on websites. Intially it was thought that Nitish would be just a development man however off late his political decisions & behaviour suggest something totally different.


Sprucing up the education system: This is one area where I feel even Nitish Kumar has failed. Movements are not run just by individuals. You have to empower ministers to take right decisions & drive the change. Getting IIT or NIFT won't really help Bihar. What is needed is the sprucing up the current education system & bring, on parity, Bihar colleges with the national ones. Provision of right number of teachers, facilities,  better placement opportunities & Providing for more professional courses that increase saleability.


Protection to people: Although I would say that this area has improved alot however still if you go by the day light muders & dacoity in Bihar, it will outnumber any other state, specially in terms of the mere scale & not the volume. people do feel a lot safer than the earlier days however there is a good reason to believe that the honest officers are still being sidelined on the pretext of politics.


Job Opportunities: An area where not much seems to have happened in the last 4-5 years. Looks like that a lot of growth has happened however hasn't really resulted in the effective development of the people. Figures do suggest certain things but at times it suggests more of a farce than reality. Unless the migrated Biharis (both daily worker & the educated class) come back to Bihar, the intellectual quotient would not really enhance. This could happen only if good job opportunities are created both in the services as well as manufacturing sector.


Solve the Maoist menace: Although man made however this has gone beyond control. It does need to be controlled but more thru a socially interactive programs rather than bullet. Haven't really seen any great effort by the successive governments taking any effort to really solve this issue. People are being killed, schools being blown up & what not. If Maoists really have to teach a lesson, they shall do it to the administrations babu dom & the politicians & not take their anger on general public. They too are equally bitten as the Maoists by Bihar's political rajneeti.


Infrastructure: Although looks like that the roads have really been made good & the connectivity has really increased between villages & towns however Infra is not just about roads. It is equally about the Power sector, iririgation techniques for farmers & so on. This definitely needs a lot of work.Does look like that Central government has not helped Bihar much but it's time to go ahead rather complaining all times. Why can't Bihar be a model of Wind Energy or any other natural resource to create power. Why can't the husk system be implemented at a broader level.


Now the question is, "Is it just the governments job to fulfill all of this?". I could yes & a no. Yes, because unless the political system provides a conducive environment to enable primary requirements, things would not move further. It is not about an individual rather a system hence involvement of government is utmost necessary. No, because with your rights, come the duties & responsibilities. It is for the people to maintain once such facilities are provided & help the government develop the same beyond the lines of religion & caste wars, something that will be difficult to get Bihar rid of.


Not just that I bet with you so much is the caste war prevalent in Bihar that this time Lalu will really have a gala time. If not in a position to rule, he would definitely be a force to reckon with. You may like it or not, but lets not shy away from reality. Just Wait & Watch.