Issue 14 (Low Res)

special issue: state of bihar report
August 16-31, 2010 | Vol. 01 Issue 14 | ` 30
dream
26 08 32 17 20 24
Nitish Kumar unplugged Plus: How Nitish reestablished the writ of the state Boomtown blues:
what the industry wants
i have A
Bihars escape from the criminality

Deliverance, development and discontent
Healthcare recovery
Suresh Menon on the charade that is the Commonwealth Games
The Delhi government is not responsible. The Organising committee is not responsible. Kalmadi is not responsible. The sports ministry is not responsible. Thats a whole lot of irresponsible agencies, if you ask me. p.36
Founders Team
Gautam Adhikari Markand Adhikari Anurag Batra (abatra@governancenow.com) Editor B V Rao bvrao@governancenow.com Managing Editor Ajay Singh ajay@governancenow.com Peoples Editor Anupam Goswami Deputy Editors Prasanna Mohanty, Ashish Mehta, Ashish Sharma Assistant Editors Samir Sachdeva, Kapil Bajaj Special Correspondents Brajesh Kumar, Trithesh Nandan Principal Correspondents Geetanjali Minhas, Danish Raza, Jasleen Kaur Correspondents Shivani Chaturvedi, Neha Sethi, Sarthak Ray, Sonal Matharu Chief of Bureau (Special Features) Sweta Ranjan sweta@governancenow.com Design Parveen Kumar, Noor Mohammad Photographer Ravi Choudhary Marketing Asst. Manager Marketing Shivangi Gupta shivangi@governancenow.com Circulation & Distribution Head Rajshekhar Chakrabarty Senior Executive, Distribution Banisha Verma banisha@governancenow.com Manager IT Santosh Gupta Asst. Manager HR Monika Sharma Design consultants LDI Graphics Pvt. Ltd. www.liquiddesigns.in info@liquiddesigns.in Printed, published and owned by Markand Adhikari. Printed at Utkarsh Art Press Pvt Ltd, D-9/3, Okhla Industrial Area Phase I, New Delhi, 110020. Tel: 011-41636301, and published at 24A, Mindmill Corporate Tower, Sector 16A, Film City, Noida 201301. Tel: 01203920555. Editor: B V Rao (Responsible for selection of news under the PRB Act) Volume 01 Issue 14 UPENG03560/24/1/2009-TC www.governancenow.com feedback@governancenow.com Cover Photo: Ravi Choudhary Imaging: Ashish Asthana Design: Anand Hirvey
contents

38 Interview with steel minister Virbhadra Singh
Domestic steel industry needs level playing field for access to mines
42 Interview with plan panel member Arun Maira
08 How writ of state was reestablished

26 Bihari sub-nationalism must subsume castes. Thats the last battle I want to fight for Bihar.
Nitish Kumar unplugged
Its a case study of how to reestablish the writ of the state. Nitish Kumar has done so through a series of pragmatic measures, reversing the stereotyped image of Bihar and Biharis. Now is the time for authentic resurgence of the state
Planning Commission will need to refurbish its tools to foresee into a dynamic world, to offer change
46 Museums of misgovernance

17 Bihars escape from criminality In terms of law and order, Bihar has risen from the
ashes. Today people dont prize anything as much as they do safety and security
Several apex cultural institutions are headless, priceless collections sealed off. From PMs press meet, circa 2014!
50 Parting Shot

32 Boomtown blues

Just why is the industry cribbing in Bihar? For once in this state, the answers lie in politicians sins of omission Time was when government hospitals were seen as stairway to heaven. Then came the National Rural Health Mission and the healing is on
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24 Healthcare recovery

EDITORIALS
Shame before the Game
If the Commonwealth Games are about national prestige, will we be left with much of it?
ach passing day brings out more embarrassing details about the Commonwealth Games preparations, establishing clearly how it is more about a brazen loot of public money and gross incompetence/collusion of a whole set of powerful peoplepoliticians, bureaucrats and sports managersthan anything to do with our sporting prowess. To begin with, the cost overrun has been colossalfrom Rs 1,899 crore at the time of bidding in 2003 to Rs 35,000 crore. Yet, even the basic infrastructurestadiums, living quarters of players, practice grounds, approach roads to venues and beautification drive in the cityis not in place. The Games organising committee (OC) seems busier explaining various scams than in preparing for the competition. Surprisingly, the first one to blow the whistle was a neardysfunctional Central Vigilance Commission. It made telling comments: ineligible agencies were awarded work; almost all organisations executing works for the Games (MCD, PWD, DDA, NDMC, CPWD, RITES) considered inadmissible factors to jack-up price; price bids were tampered with after being opened and poor quality of works certified as good. Sitaram Yechuri, a CPM member of parliament, provided more damning evidence when he quoted official records to show how the renovation work on stadiums was
All financial deals were cleared by an apex body that comprised of top bureaucrats of the country from the ministries of urban development, sports and finance.
several times costlier than building new onesRs 961 crore for the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, Rs 669 crore for the India Gandhi Indoor Stadium, Rs 262 crore for the Dhyan Chand Hockey Stadium and so on. Contrast this with a state-of-art stadium built in Nagpur for Rs 84 crore. Suresh Kalmadi, OC chairman, tried to brazen it out at first but soon wickets started falling. Documents surfaced to show how huge sums were being siphoned off to an UK-based company. Kalmadi justified it by flaunting an official document that turned out to be doctored and the first wicket fellSanjay Mahindroo, OCs deputy DG, resigned and disappeared. Then OC treasurer Anil Khanna resigned after it was revealed that his sons firm had got the contract to lay synthetic tennis turfs. Two other senior officials, T S Darbari and M Jeychandran, were suspended for financial irregularities. Then came the shocking revelations about hiring sports equipments and accessories at prices higher than their actual cost. Though this forced the OC to go for outright purchase of sports equipments, more shocking details were waiting. All the financial deals had actually been cleared by an apex body that included top bureaucrats of the countryM Ramachandran (secretary, urban development), Sindhushree Khullar (secretary, sports and youth affairs), Sanjiv Kumar Mittal, (additional secretary, finance) and Rahul Bhatnagar (joint secretary, sports and youth affairs). And none of them raised an eyebrow at any point! More scams followed. The OC had contracted an Australian sports marketing firm to find
The man in the muddle
Dont count on Omar Abdullah to suddenly personify the change that Kashmiris voted for in the last elections
mar Abdullah is the wrong man at the wrong place at the wrong time. Dont count on him to suddenly personify the change that the Kashmiris voted for in the last elections. That seems to be the unfortunate if unavoidable inference from the events of the past couple of months. From here on, it will take nothing short of a miracle to restore public faith in the state government. The history of the troubled valley suggests that the more likely scenario will be a relentless state of misrule on part of the state government and
mistrust on part of the people punctuated by spells of sheer chaos. Until, that is, the inevitable change of actors takes place all over again sooner or later. And so the tragedy of Kashmir, betrayal of public faith and abdication of responsibility by a succession of sons of the soil, continues. With just a little more will to govern on part of the incumbent chief minister, it could all have been otherwise. Here is a young ambitious politician who had assumed power by elbowing out his father from the job and was hailed as a beacon of hope not only because he was fresh and unsullied
but also because unlike the senior Abdullah he was seen as serious-minded. He had made just the right noises and political moves too, by dissociating himself with the Bharatiya Janata Party which had earlier made him a minister at the centre and by seizing his opportunity to become a trusted ally of the ascendant Congress party. As the past few months have proved, though, histrionics in parliament and handling a state as challenging as Jammu & Kashmir are completely different things. What is most disappointing is that as chief minister the junior Abdullah seems to have cultivated a penchant for doing the most ill-advised things at the most inopportune moments. So you have a leader who is said to have gone picnicking to Pahalgam amid the raging fire in parts of the valley. You have a chief minister who can neither do without the central security forces nor come clean on his need for a calibrated armed response to the unrest on the ground. Worst of all, perhaps, you have a duly-elected representative of the people who is
GovernanceNow | August 16-31, 2010
sponsors for the Games. The firms own contribution was very little as most of the sponsorship came from our own PSUs, but as per the contract, it was to get 15 to 23 percent commission on all of it. The OC had also committed to give another 5 percent of its revenue to the Indian Olympic Association that Kalmadi heads, purely as a charity. Both had to be scrapped by the OC later because of public outcry. As for our loudmouth MP Mani Shankar Aiyar, who has been the most vocal critic of the Games, it turns out that he played a major role as the sports minister between 2006 and 2008 in blocking most of the work-related proposals, leading to delay and cost overrun to the tune of at least Rs 1,710 crore. This was revealed by the sports ministry officials! Amidst all these hullabaloo, Kalmadi, the man responsible for much of the mess, remains unfazed. He has even ordered an inquiry to find out the guilty! But our appeal to him is: Please Go. The Games cant be a bigger fiasco without you. And since you cant be sacked, the OC being a registered society, you would serve the Games and the country best by quitting the scene now!
New, improved secularism?

ecularism comes in two editions: the first is your garden variety, vanilla flavour; and lets call the other critical secularism or sustainable secularism. If you are told that there are riots in some city and before condemning the violence if you need to know which community was at the receiving end or which party is in power there, then you are an advocate of the simplified version, a darling of our media as of all those who get their opinions in readyto-serve packets. The other version is better illustrated by recent events in Kerala. A college lecturer prepared a question paper that allegedly insulted the Prophet. Many would condemn this, but activists of Popular Front of India (PFI) allegedly chopped off the teachers right hand in early July. The state government of the Left Democratic Front seems intent to punish the guilty. Chief Minister V S Achuthanandan has been making a series of statements against the communal forces. It is an organisation that works to destroy peace and communal amity in Kerala by inciting communal passions. It doesnt represent the Muslim community, he told the state assembly. When was the last time we heard such frank talk from comrades or anybody else?
News from Gods own country: Left Democratic Front chief minister seeks to contain Islamic fundamentalism
The Left possibly has its own reasons in realpolitik as PFI supported the Congress in the last Lok Sabha elections. But the matters have come to such a pass that the Left is being accused of eying a Hindu vote bank. But this matter serves the purpose of illustrating the the second school of secularism. And before L K Advani comes and says this is precisely what he had in mind when he coined the term pseudo-secularism as opposed to real secularism, let us clarify that under no version of this misused concept can the Gujarat violence be justified. And calling it a bloat or aberration can do little beyond earning you praise for your vocabulary. It is very much in the interest of those who believe in equal respect for all religions that they do not allow petty politicians to hijack the concept and use it in electioneering. Islamic terrorism is as much a reality as Hindutva extremism. If there will be a manifesto of sustainable secularism, its preamble will say that the two sides at battle are not Hindus and Muslims, nor the fringe elements of the two communities, nor the BJP et al and Congress plus. The two sides at battle are those who believe in (communal) violence as a political tool and those who dont.
seldom seen among his people, a ruler who is unable to connect with those he seeks to lead. No chief minister in Kashmir can do worse than to be seen running to New Delhi seeking a bail-out. That, too, after having painted his people as perpetrators of violence that cannot be contained without giving the security forces a free run. Dont be fooled by the demand for a political package from New Delhi either. It is simply an admission of failure of governance on part of the chief minister, who has ended up doing so early in his regime what his predecessors routinely did when they ran out of excuses: blame their own inefficiencies on the centre. Political resolution of the Kashmir issue between India and Pakistan notwithstanding there is sufficient room for good governance in the state. Entrenched interests, including the bureaucracy and the separatists, doubtless favour status quo to keep receiving special central funds but with the ongoing implosion of Pakistan there has emerged a real opportunity to govern Kashmir back to normalcy.
Here is a chief minister who is seldom seen among his people, who is unable to connect with those he seeks to lead. No chief minister in Kashmir can do worse than to be seen running to New Delhi seeking a bail-out. That, too, after having painted his people as perpetrators of violence that cannot be contained without giving the security forces a free run.
Unlike in the past, there is no real urge among the Kashmiris to join Pakistan, even as they remain distrustful of India. What the situation in Kashmir does not call for is to link every single outburst against the security forces to Pakistan. But what it does require on part of the chief minister is to be seen as a representative of the people who are losing their lives without ever really encouraging the people to resort to violence. The junior Abdullah has failed to achieve this delicate balance. In Kashmir, he is seen as somebody who has failed to empathise with the masses. In the rest of India, he is seen as somebody who can stand up to the separatists but who is too incompetent to govern. He has only himself to blame for these impressions. It is unrealistic to expect him to suddenly transform into a man of the masses. But his belated attempt to console the families of those injured in clashes with the security forces may just give him the lease of life that he so badly needs to begin to understand his responsibilities.
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R E A D E R S S PA C E
Judicial cess can strike at the root of corruption

So many debates on TV and sting operations in the past few years have hardly impacted corruption. The media, particularly the electronic variety, has contributed substantially in highlighting the issues, but the benefits remain only isolated and ad-hoc because the root cause is never addressed. The root cause is a lack of deterrent which is because of delays in the justice delivery system. Politicians and bureaucrats hide under that most abused philosophy of jurisprudence, innocent till proven guilty, to duck action even in the most brazen acts of corruption and criminality. Karnataka chief minister B S Yeddyurappa recently used this escape route to avoid kicking the Reddy brothers out of his cabinet and even our so-called cleanest of clean prime ministers, Manmohan Singh, has used it in the past to save tainted ministers. The delayed judgments coming anywhere after 10 to 25 years even in high-profile cases like the Mumbai blasts, Upahar Cinema fire, Jessica Lall murder, Nitish Katara murder and the Union Carbide disaster, clearly depict the horrible state of affairs of the Indian judicial system. It is further evidenced from the fact that more than 3,00,00,000 cases are pending at both trial and higher levels. Of course, CJI S H Kapadia has made a distinction between pendency of cases and cases in arrears. He inter alia said that 60 percent of the cases in trial courts are less than a year old which may be termed as pending, leaving only one crore cases in the pending category. The point is, even that figure is not small and should be a cause for major worry. Law minister M Veerappa Moily has said that settling a case takes on an average 15 years in India. This kind of delay takes away all fear of punishment from politicians and babus, and only adds to the instances and intensity of the abuse of power and authority. And that is why there is no will in any government to get down to a serious overhaul of our judicial systems. Thus governments will not easily or willingly commit big budgets for the purpose. Former CJI K G Balakrishnan once remarked that one branch of the state the executive cannot frustrate the functioning of another branch - judiciary by holding and denying it the necessary resources, financial or otherwise. The power of control over finances enjoyed by the centre is vested in it by the constitution with the obligation that all branches of state are sufficiently supported. The greatest institution is accorded the least attention. Is administration of justice not an essential feature of development? Prime minister ManMohan Singh also has spoken repeatedly about this problem. Four years ago he said at a conference: One of the shortcomings noticed in our judicial system is the delay of disposal of cases. This may partly be due to the high vacant positions at all levels of judiciary I will ask the government to reflect in what way the central government in cooperation with states can come back to a conference like this in future to ensure that we have taken effective action to deal with this pressing problem. Merely acknowledging the problem is not enough. Is there a significant change in this regard in the last four years? If we really need to refurbish our judicial system, we will need to neutralise the governments biggest excuse: lack of funds. That is why I think we should raise the funds for judicial restructuring by imposing a Judicial Cess @ 1 percent on direct taxes. This alone could fetch more than Rs 4,000 crore every year. Prima facie, the levy of Judicial cess may appear to be anti-people, but considering the class of people on which it will be levied and the benefits it will bring, it will be very productive and in the interest of public at large. So, judicial cess, anybody? Anil Kumar Bagai New Delhi
Debate
Will CBI be able to nail Amit Shah?

We raise this question because the CBI has a completely clean record in this regardit has never nailed or jailed a politician involved in any sort of wrong doing. Lalu Prasad is roaming free and the Rs 1,000 crore fodder scam has been forgotten. Jagdish Tytler and Sajjan Kumar, accused of involvement in the anti-Sikh riots, are roaming free too. Mayawati and Mulayam Singh Yadav are going about their business without hindrances despite the disproportionate assets cases pending against both of them for years now. There have been several such cases in the past as well the hawala case, the telecom scam, the Syed Modi murder case, the Bofors case the list is endless. What would inspire confidence in the CBI then? The prime minister may say that the CBI is not the Congress Bureau of Investigation, or maybe it is not even the Congress Bureau of Intimidation because it becomes a handmaiden to all political parties in power. But surely, it is neither competent nor non-pliable to inspire our confidence! Join the debate, send your views to feedback@governancenow.com
No compromise with truth

The quality of articles in Governance Now is superior. I have been reading Governance Now online and very soon Ill be subscribing to the magazine. Please keep up the good work. There should be no compromise with truth. Priyanka Dubey On email
Adding a new dimension

Recently I saw your magazine, Governance Now. Really, its very good. Articles are relevant and give a new dimension to issues. I found them really useful. Vishweshwar Bhat Bangalore
Write to Governance Now We invite your suggestions, reactions to the stories and analyses and, of course, your own take on all matters related to governance. You can email or send snail mail. All letters must accompany your postal address. feedback@governancenow.com SABGROUP Publishing Division 24A Mindmill Corporate Towers Film City, Sector 16A, Noida 201301
6 GovernanceNow | August 16-31, 2010
BIHAR
STATE OF
Because Bihar deserves better

government to the doorstep for people to touch and feel it. This was perhaps the purpose of his Vikas (development) Yatra of 2009 and Vishwas (trust) Yatra of 2010. If the very sight of the B V Rao distant, faceless government of Patna pitching tents in their midst overawed them; the sight of the Chief Minister taking a 2-km t the height of Lalu morning walk from the camp into Prasads reign in Bihar the nearest village floored them. (I had written on I asked a little boy if he knew exchange4media.com who was coming. His reply was in 2009) Shilpa Shetty rocked telling: Sarkar aa rahi hain! (The the nation with a hip-gyrating government is coming!). number that went like this: Ek Of course, there is a down side to chumma tu mujhko udhar dei-do/ such demonstrative democracy. chahe badle mein UP, Bihar laiNitish has personally received a s h is h a s t h a n a e-lo (Give me a kiss and take UP bagfuls of written complaints and Bihar in exchange). and raised hopes of a people laid Thats a throwaway price, even E ditor s N ote low by decades of State neglect. for a state as looked down upon He has his task cut out in living as Bihar was. But in the last up to the raised expectations. But that is the point. Not the five years, thankfully, Bihar seems to have turned its back roads he has built, not the criminals he has locked up, not on the wasted Lalu years and earlier. The story from the the 50% reservation for women hes givenNitishs biggest political badland is of Nitish Kumar and the new Bihar he achievement is he has taught the average Bihari to hope is building. again. That hope will have to be addressed. By somebody About time, too. For too long has Bihar been seen as a drag on the country, else, if not Nitish, but addressed it will have to be. In a few months, the people of Bihar will elect a new for way too long has lampooning Bihar been a national government. From all the articles that follow in this special pastime. The great communicator that he is, Lalu knew State of Bihar Report it does seem like Nitish has a case how to play to the cameras. While he himself became a for re-election. But complaints remain because, as our lead national star by projecting a careful caricature of himself, essay by Shaibal Gupta points out, substantial change in in so doing, he reinforced the national stereotype of Bihar Bihar, fossilised by a century and more of non-governance, as a joke. While Bihar needed him to play the lead role, he is not easy. Also, development is never enough or never was far too busy playing the best actor in a comic role for fast enough to touch all spheres of State activity and all 15 agonisingly long years. sections of people as Nitish Kumar himself candidly admits Lalu may have been forgiven his idiosyncrasies had in a rare interview with Ajay Singh. Nitish deserves the he cared to show even a mild weakness for governance. credit, and perhaps even the hype, not because of what Contrarily, his rule was noted for the full abdication of he has achieved but because of what he has initiated. We the responsibilities of the State to criminal gangs. The do hope he gets a second chance so he can run faster and heartening thing about Nitishs five years in power is that run better. We need that to revive our flagging faith in he is deconstructing Lalus Bihar not merely by matching inclusive politics and good governance. political chicanery, but by good governance, or at least, We need that to tell Shilpa Shetty that Bihars exchange attempted good governance. rate has far exceeded a few gyrations and a kiss! n He has succeeded not only in (partially) cranking up
a dormant bureaucracy into action, but in establishing the authority of the State. He did this by taking the
bvrao@governancenow.com
people politics policy performance

Governance Reinvented
Small steps, big change:

How Nitish Kumar re-established the writ of State
When critics say the New Bihar story is all hype and Nitish Kumar has not changed anything substantially, they are probably right. Given the historical legacy of non-governance in Bihar, Nitish is trying to restore the authority of the State step by baby step. He deserves credit not for what he has achieved, but for what he has dared to initiate.
Shaibal Gupta
ihar seems to be reinventing itself. The image of Bihar in the congnitive world of Indians was never so high in almost 100 years since its establishment as a separate state from the Bengal Presidency in 1912. This image is not just limited to Indias shores, but has transcended beyond. This is reflected by the numerous visits to Bihar of ambassadors, high commissioners, diplomats and highprofile journalists from foreign newspapers and magazines. The normally reticent diplomats too have been openly appreciative of the advances the state is making. Chief minister Nitish Kumar has received accolades and awards for turning the state around. In this backdrop, it is a matter of serious inquiry whether Bihar is indeed on the path of resurgence. How has this come about? Can a state like Bihar with a mammoth population and with
endemic problems of famines and floods create a positive image without some substantive changes in its economy? The critic of the present regime, quite expectedly, attributes this image makeover to exaggerated media reports; maintaining that the ground reality is utterly different. The critic actually sees Nitishs ascension in a completely different light. Bihars economic development has been at a standstill for decades but the process of societal and electoral democratisation had continued in the state for long, possibly presenting the only case of its kind in India. So, the critic sees the installation of the present regime as a counter-revolution to banish all the gains of that democratisation. Even though the social configuration of the ruling regime is a coalition of extremes, (socialist JDU and rightist BJP) it was thought that it is the elite component in the coalition that has captured the political space, thereby reversing the gains of
democratisation in recent decades. In the name of development, a tyrannical regime has taken control of the state, the critic charges. To top it, the chief minister has become a prisoner of an artificial, mediaconstructed image of himself and has been marooned from all types of information from the ground, related to social disquiet and disorder. Thus talking of resurgence in the benighted state of Bihar will be a misnomer, the critic says, adding that in reality it is still a rogue state and not a resurgent one. So what is the factual situation? Is Bihars development just a cleverly crafted myth? Is the so-called Nitish magic just an illusion? If at all he has changed anything, what has he changed? None of these questions can be answered without a deep inquiry into Bihars historical misgovernance and economic stagnation. So lets turn the pages back to pre-Independence decades and post.
BIHAR
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photo imaging: ashish asthana
Historical perspective
While the edifice of the Indian state was being built, there was commensurate effort at the provincial level as well. However, the state building efforts were mainly concentrated in the southern and western Indian provinces, which had a better track record of governance even before independence, like in Madras and Bombay presidencies. Historically, good governance in India can be traced back to two principal features: land-tenure system and the presence of princely states. In the two presidencies names above, and indeed all over India, it was the Rywatwari land tenure system that was followed. In this system the State has a direct relationship with the tenant, collecting rent directly. This resulted in better collection of rent and in ensuring better public investment in the area. But, in the Hindi heartland, other than Punjab, state-building effort was not taken up in right earnest so they were not governed as well as the southern provinces in spite of following the Rywatwari system. But the presence of princely states did influence the quality of governance in their respective provinces, creating pockets of good governance even in the Hindi
heartland. This was because the princes had a full sense of ownership of their domain and hence the incentive to govern them well. (The continued hold of the scions of the princely states in the postindependence politics of Hindi heartland can be traced to this legacy of good governance.) This legacy had its resonance even on the democratically elected governments post Independence. These elected governments had to compete with

the institutional memory of the quality of governance of the princely states. Thus even within the Hindi heartland, the quality of governance was determined by the pattern of land settlement and the presence of successful princely states.
Governance in Bihar: Down history lane
Bihar was disadvantaged on both the above counts. It neither followed the Rywatwari system nor did it have any hubs of good governance in the form of princely states. Being part of Bengal Presidency, the East India Company introduced the Permanent Settlement land holding system in 1793 which introduced the zamindars as intermediaries between the State (the East India Company in this case) and the tenant. The work of zamindars involved collection of rent from the tenant and, in turn, depositing part of it with the Company. The rent charged by the Company from the zamindar was fixed but this principle was not extended to the relationship between the zamindars and the tenants. As a result the zamindars extracted as much from the hapless peasantry as they possibly could, that led to famines of increasing severity (as noted by Arvind N Das, see Bihar Society in Perspective : Roots of Regional Imbalance in Bihar: Stagnation or Growth edited by Alakh N Sharma and Shaibal Gupta). For its part, the Company was interested only in collecting its fixed tax from the zamindars and least interested in governance and economic development of the area. In contrast, the princely states in Rajasthan and Jaipur organised massive relief operations during famines and times of distress (it is no accident that the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act is the most successful in Rajasthan). Permanent settlement had another
disastrous impact on governance: not only did it generate limited revenue for the State, it also discouraged regular survey and settlement of land records (because the zamindars would then have to pass on more tax to the State). This meant public investment was severely limited in Bihar. The memorandum for the Indian Statutory Commission on the Working of the Reforms in Bihar and Orissa submitted to the Reform Commission in 1930 took note of this fact that the standard expenditure of Bihar and Orissa, worked out on the basis of actual expenditure prior to 1912, came to Rs 8 lakh per million of the population, the lowest among all the provinces, against Rs 13 lakh in Bengal, the second lowest. This is only indicative of the relative strength of institutional capacity of governance created in Bihar in comparison to other states during the colonial period (quoting from Special Category Status: A Case for Bihar, published by CEPPF at ADRI, Patna, in 2009 and endorsed by Nitish Kumar). While this was the reality of governance in Bihar, the two oft quoted reports by Paul H. Appleby, consultant in public administration at the Ford Foundation, published in the early years of independence, created a completely different myth of Bihar as the best governed state of India. (In actuality, Bihar did not figure in either of Applebys reports.) For almost for six decades, Bihar had thus democratically endorsed non-governance, according to Subrata K Mitra (see Bihar: The Dynamics of Stalemated Class Conflict in The Puzzle of Indias Governance in Culture, Context and Comparative Theory). The quality of governance in Bihar remained unchanged after independence because the critical agenda of land management remained intractable. Over and above, the buccaneering accumulation of land
In the absence of authentic land management in the state, the authority of the state plummeted over the years. In the process, there was deluge of civil cases around land, which in turn became the trigger of criminal cases. In the absence of the states capacity to resolve these contradictions, the political space in Bihar was opened either for the criminals or for the radical organisations.
remains the principal occupation of the ruling elite. In Bihar as a whole, there was neither a social movement nor concerted efforts to break the feudal structure. The story of crime, brigandage and primitive accumulation was thus embedded in the social structure of the state (as brought out by Girish Mishra and Ajay Kumar Pandey in Sociology & Economics of Casteism in India : A Study of Bihar). There are several instances in the state where not only governance took the backseat, but institutions that existed in Bihar were subverted. Politics and governance revolved around preventing of vesting of surplus land from large land-holders. The government, at no stage, thought of ordering fresh survey and settlement operations when it was installed in 1946. Most of the districts had survey and settlement operations dating back to 1925 and before. Nor did the state think of having an administrative machinery to take over the task of the management of revenue affairs
BIHAR
administration affected the ambiance of law enforcing agencies as well.
STATE OF
ashish asthana
after the abolition of zamindari in the 50s. (Mishra and Pandey). In the absence of authentic land management in the state, the authority of the state plummeted over the years. In the process, there was a deluge of civil cases relating to land disputes, which in turn became the trigger of criminal cases. In the absence of the states capacity to resolve these contradictions, the political space in Bihar was opened up either for criminals or for radical organisations. The State was absent, its authority eroded.
Recent history: More misgovernace
If this was the sad plight preindependence and the decades after it, the deterioration in the 1970s plunged new depths due to the following factors: In the 1970s, the then finance secretary of Bihar suggested amalgamation of the office of the departmental secretaries with the directorate, for rationalising government
two organs of state
expenditure. While departmental secretaries were concerned with policy matters (home secretary, for example) the directorate was concerned with the mammoth field operations (under the DGP, for example). The autonomy of the directorate could be maintained not only through the power of transfer and posting of the senior officers, but by providing it with a budget and authority to recruit and discipline non-gazetted officers. The communication between the two was through a letter and not through a file (communication is by letter between two organs of State and through file within the same organ). By amalgamating the two organs, the British practice of earlier years was reversed, only in Bihar. Thus in Bihar, the field operation was practically given up and, in the process, the quality of governance which was already poor, suffered further. Even though amalgamation did not take place between the home department and the police, the decline in the general
Again in the 1970s, with the amendment of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC), the prosecution arm of the State was separated from its investigation wing. Even though it was not limited to Bihar, the track record of convictions suffered the most here because of the ambience of poor administration. Earlier, it was the onus of the police to ensure prosecution and conviction. With the de-linking of prosecution from the police and the responsibility being shifted to the district administration, it improved neither the quality of trial nor its speed. In the process, the record of convictions suffered. In each district, although the assistant district prosecutor (ADP) and public prosecutor (PP) functioning in the court of the chief judicial magistrate (CJM) and Session Court are both whole-time judicial officers of the government, a large part of the legal personnel at the district level comprising 40 additional public prosecutors (APPs) working with PP are not whole-time functionaries of the government. They are practically outside the pale of regular supervision of the district administration and indifferent to work. In this atmosphere of indifference, not only did the conviction rate hit the nadir, the fear of this instrument of State disappeared. The 1970s also witnessed a gradual eclipse of ideology in politics. If Indira Gandhis garibi hatao created a social sanction for ideology free politics (because no ideology could disown the slogan), Jaiprakash Narayans Indira hatao gave birth to party-less democracy (because parties of
a severe Blow to judicial process
all hues came under the JP umbrella). One of the immediate fallouts of the JP movement was liquidation of the socialist party (SSP), leading to an erosion of the competitive effort of the other political parties to build their own party structures. Whereas the political parties in the West and South of India acted as a conduit between the state and society, in Bihar, in the absence of organised political parties, a space was created for the entry of the organised crime into the political party. In the absence of a social base and eclipse of ideology, criminal networks got co-opted into the party. Soon they started holding preeminent positions not only in the party, but also in the government. In Bihar, there are only a few gangsters who have graduated to the level of dons, the latter generally functioning incognito. The criminals in Bihar not only display their abrasiveness, but often take pride in committing crime publicly. Unlike the dons who rarely commit crime personally or are seen in public, the criminals here like to flaunt their criminality. This abrasive nature of the criminals in Bihar had a direct impact on the quality of governance, particularly after they were embedded in the administrative structure. Among other factors, controlling crime also depends on the financial resource base of the administration, particularly the police. Bihars per capita non-plan expenditure (the cost of maintaining the mammoth edifice of the government) is the lowest in the country. This funds crunch severely impairs the the police administration. The non-plan expenditure on police plummeted by 12 percent between 200203 to 2003-04 and the planned expenditure went down by about 36 percent, forestalling
lack of resources
Eclipse of ideology
Sushil Bareriya, manager, LIC
Pappu Singh, assistant at a car showroom
The real estate prices in Patna have gone up like crazy. It is an indicator of the peoples confidence in the state. Earlier those who wanted to invest in this sector did so in Gurgaon and Noida. Today they are doing so in Patna.
Earlier people were
scared of buying big luxury cars scared as they would be targeted by kidnappers. That fear has gone. Those who come to our shop ask for the top models without hesitation.
all possibilities of technological upgradation. Such meager allotment of funds implies one of the highest population-police ratios in Bihar. This ratio will get worse if the 26,000 vacancies are taken into account. The police stations and outposts are ill-equipped in terms of both men and material and practically unexposed to the training needed for dealing with crime.
What Nitish Kumar has changed
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Business class in Patna

S K Pandey, owner of True Value Motors Pradeep Kumar, owner of a saree shop in Patna
I deal in sale and purchase of vehicles. Its amazing the way the business has taken a turn for the better in the last few years. I sell more vehicles in a week these days than I used to sell in a month when the law and order situation was bad.
where my shop is remains open till late and this is good for us in terms of business we do.
Mukesh Kumar, owns a shop in Raja Bazar
The market in Patna
Collection of rangdari tax
(protection money), which was so common a few years back, has stopped. All those who claimed to be party workers and asked for the tax have vanished.
So, when Nitish Kumar assumed office in 2005, the challenge before him was to convert this pulp state into a functioning state. A welloiled state structure is needed for enforcing the rule of the law, without which neither social justice nor economic development is possible. Historically under-governed Bihar needed both law and order, essentially a demonstration of the authority of the State. Nitish Kumar has been trying to provide a new grammar to governance. The highlight of this new grammar is the rate of convictions being mediated through the fast track trial courts. The state has seen 48,000 convictions between January 2006 and June 2010, compared to only 10,000 in the decade of 1995-2005! The present government has taken several steps for improving the authority of the government. Though Nitish Kumar has not been able to reverse the amalgamation of the secretariats and the directorates, he has been able to bring in change by initiating the following small but demonstrative and effective changes: (a) In the court of the people Firstly, Nitish Kumar is trying to build bridges with people by directly hearing their grievances by presenting himself in the court of the people, (Janata Ke Darbar Me Mukhya Mantri). Various departments have specific days and sometimes a bunch of departments are taken up together. For example, the necessity to construct boundary walls around kabristans (graveyards) was brought to his notice in one such interaction. The matter has always been a source of discord, often aggravating to riots. He immediately identified 8,064 graveyards and sanctioned
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Rs 360 crore for the construction of the boundary walls. Construction at 309 graveyards has been completed and Rs 108 crore has been provided for construction of walls around 1,922 graveyards in the next phase. In another example, when it was pointed out that, out of 853 official deaths in the Bhagalpur riots, families of only 725 have received compensation, he immediately ordered the payment to the remaining families. These examples indicate an eagerness to act which was absent before. Nitish also undertook the Vikas Yatra (rally of development) and then Vishwas Yatra (rally of trust), which were ostensibly to oversee the development work in the rural areas but designed to demonstrate the existence of a government to all of Bihar. (b) Police in a new role Even though the prosecution and investigation functions are still separate, a strategy for better functioning was worked out in a seminar on Speedy Criminal Justice, organised jointly by the judiciary and the executive. The result was immediate. The trials related to the Arms Act started producing results, because in most cases the crucial witnesses were police officials themselves. Later on, its ambit was expanded to other cases which needed protracted trial. After consolidating the gains of other trials, riot cases were opened and fresh chargesheets were prepared against offenders who earlier escaped police scrutiny. Even though the prosecution was outside the ambit of the police, as a result of the seminar, the senior most police officials at the state headquarters, starting from the director general of police (DGP) and additional director general of police (ADGP), began monitoring all trial cases through the retinue of deputy inspectors general (DIGs) and superintendents of police (SPs). To continue the momentum,
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it was decided that Annual Confidential Reports (ACRs) of SPs would depend on the conviction rate. While the police administration was streamlined, the judicial administration was also given a thrust. The seminar had also identified problems affecting the quality of work of the judiciary. Thus, they were provided with stenographers, generators, security etc. and the assured promotion scheme (ACP) for the additional prosecution officers (APOs) and additional public prosecutors (APPs) galvanised them to function more effectively. The entire effect was electrifying and, freeing themselves from the sloth and stagnation of earlier years, they started functioning effectively. Between 2006 and 2007, the very second calendar year of the government, the conviction in the IPC cases increased by 145 percent and in the Arms Act by 267 percent. c. Ideology and crime While the rule of law is being established, a place for ideology, eclipsed since the JP movement, is yet to be re-established. However, there is a systematic effort to marginalise the criminal elements within the ruling establishment. Nitish Kumar is extremely conscious about the image of Bihar and is making all efforts for re-branding the state. Even though he is heading a coalition, none of the MLAs who have been chargesheeted has been spared from the trial court. Criminals and politicians are like Siamese twins in Bihar, and carrying out a surgical operation to separate them will need more time and dexterity. (d) Funds for policing Even though the expenditure in police administration had declined earlier, it recorded a substantial growth of 27.4 percent between 2005-06 and 2006-07, that is to say, in the very first year of the governments tenure. That year, 5,000 ex-servicemen were recruited to help the police administration and 11,500 more were
inducted in the second year. The defunct Bihar Police Building Construction Corporation (BPBCC) has been revived to undertake construction and repairs of several dilapidated police buildings. To increase the esteem of the policemen, the uniform allowances of Rs. 2,650 have been sanctioned. Several police stations and police subdivisions have been created. Regular posts of bodyguards and other police personnel have been sanctioned. Not only the daily allowances of the Home Guards have been increased, but 20,000 new volunteers are being enrolled.
Bihar: A lot left to do

Though Bihar seems to be on the upsurge, its long journey to revival:
Poverty:
41.4% 47% 10%
Second highest poverty rate after Orissa.
Literacy:
The lowest in the country.
Urbanisation:
Bihar is the least urbanised state in India.
Looking ahead
Roads:
For those not familiar with Bihar, the steps taken so far might appear to be of routine nature and not worthy of special attention. Admittedly, much more needs to be done to make the efforts reach a threshold level. But seen in the context of the historical legacy of misgovernance, and even mal-governance, these are giants strides for Bihar and required considerable administrative grit and political courage. Instruments of state authority are generally equated with oppression and suppression, but that is possibly true for states which are not soft. Bihars is not the case of a soft State, but an absent State. Nitish Kumars attempts are not based on individual heroics. He is indeed trying to introduce structural changes towards organised governance. Hopefully, this momentum of change will be maintained and the chief minister will resurrect the pristine authority of the State which will be inclusive as well. The establishment of the authority of the State might appear as a case of marginal resurgence in Bihar; but for authentic resurgence, the entire edifice of the State has to be built carefully.n
Gupta is member-secretary of the Asian Development Research Institute (ADRI). shaibalgupta@yahoo.co.uk
2,809.33 km of road length was sanctioned under PMGSY in 2007-08, of which only 8.2 percent was completed.
8.2% 1%
Health:
Expenditure on health is less than 1% of GDP.
Workforce:
More than three-fourths of the workforce is employed in the farm sector. And 60% of them are self-employed.
75%
NREGS:
As of 2008-09, only about 34 percent of the BPL households were covered under scheme. Only 2.68 percent of the households completed 100 days of employment in same year. Only Rs 1,155.30 crore out of allocated Rs 1,825.46 crore spent in 2007-08.
34%
Banks:
Nearly one-third of all banks concentrated in five districts Patna, East Champaran, Darbhanga, Madhubani and Gaya. 24 block HQs still unbanked. Bank credit lowest in India.
Source: An unpublished study done by the Institute of Human Development, New Delhi, for the Planning Commission as part of the mid-term appraisal of the 11th plan.
30%

Rebuilding Bihar
Barah baje tak late nahin, 3 baje ke baad bhent nahin

Nitish has changed Bihars work culture which believed that noon is not late to begin work and 3 pm is too late to be working!
Ravi Choudha ry
Harivansh
n the present political context of Bihar, two contrasting reports by reputed foreign newspapers are relevant. On January 12, 1982, Trevor Fishlock of the London Times wrote that Bihar is Indias sewer in an article titled as Delhi watches helplessly as its problem state slides into barbarism. That was the reflection of social, economic and political reality of Bihar then. In 2010, the Economist (January 30) described Bihar Indias most depressed and unruly state but also noted that rarely has a failed state escaped political
bankruptcy the way Bihar did. These two articles highlight the path Bihar has traversed from 1982 to 2010. In 1985, the people of Bihar chose a Congress regime but between 1985 and 1990, there were five chief ministers. chief minister Bhagwat Jha Azad and governor Govind Narayan Singh fought unashamedly on petty issues. Then Azad was also involved in an unsavoury spat with speaker Shiv Chandra Jha. It didnt help that all the gentlemen involved in cantankerous feuds belonged to the same party, the Congress. Those occupying high constitutional positions did not care about constitutional propriety and dignity. Anarchy at the top has a tendency to permeate down very fast. Thats what happened in Bihar. Caste-clashes, massacres, decaying of the education system, stilted growth, large-scale migration-all combined to lead to total collapse of governance. As the state continued to shrink, and its authority evaporated, the void was filled by criminals and gangsters patronised by political masters. Government contracts were captured
by criminals who turned into Caste Robinhoods. In 1990 Lalu Prasad became the chief minister of Bihar. He summed up his entire political philosophy in one sentence Rajas word is law (Hum toh Rajanu hain). He ran the administration as per his whim. The rule of law was grossly undermined. Bihar hurtled down on the path to ku-shashan (bad governance). The degeneration was highlighted when Lalu once described floods as beneficial for the poor as they could get fish to eat from flood waters. He was least bothered about issues like relief and improvement in governance. The result was that the authority of the state eroded further. In 2005 when Nitish Kumar too over the reins, his biggest challenge was to resurrect the state structure and restore its authority and develop an institutional framework for effective functioning of the state. From the time Fishlock wrote that damning report in 1982 right up to 2005, Bihars condition was indeed pitiable. Whether or not Nitish Kumar returns to power, he cannot be denied the credit for resurrecting a state which was clearly on the brink of anarchy and chaos. He brought governance back on track in a state considered to be the countrys most ungovernable. He introduced a professional work culture at his official residence, office and the state secretariat. His predecessor used to revel in holding durbars and musical revelries. Lalu Prasad battled against forces of feudalism but not against feudal culture. Nitish Kumar changed that culture. He earned the reputation of a chief minister who slogs for over 15-16 hours a day. He focused on roads which had years ago turned into unmotorable potholes. The reason was obvious. Those who ruled before believed in the philosophy that roads are meant only for car-owners. They forgot the role played by roads in the evolution of the developed nations. Government contracts were captured by gangsters and road
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law was finally approved by the Centre engineers and government employees only a few days back just before the forthwere kidnapped for ransom at will. coming assembly elections so as to deny Thus, for Nitish Kumar, constructing political leverage to Nitish Kumar. Howroads was not an easy task. It had to be ever this legislation may be an effective preceded by the restoration of the auinstrument in checking corruption in the thority of the state from the clutches of bureaucracy. criminals and their patrons. This objecAs the state power acquired muscle, it tive was achieved with better co-ordinahad a direct bearing on the states econtion of judiciary, executive and legislaomy. Markets grew and construction inture. Fast-track courts were set up. The dustry got a new fillip. Patna could comchief minister made a determined atpete with Mumbai in the rate at which tempt to improve the functioning of the real estate prices spiraled up. In keeppolice. It is indeed a measure of the resing with the rest of the toration of institutions of country, telecom grew state that about 47,000 phenomenally (an incriminals were convictCritics of democracy dustry report puts the ed in less than five years. describe it as a figure at 88.02 percent This paved the way for with a mobile base at resurrection of the state system that is tardy 2.45 crore now). All this authority. In the same and lethargic and has checked the miperiod the state congration to other states structed over 7,000 km of that it does not though Bihar still has roads, 1,500-odd flyovers show quick results. the biggest population and more 300 bridges But Nitish Kumar of poor in the country. and culverts. The anPolitics holds the key nual plan size which was proved the critics to regulating the socioRs 4,466 crore in 2005economic life of Bihar. 2006 grew manifold to Rs wrong by introducing two experiments The state was devoid 20,000 crore. An assessof a social renaissance. ment says that in the last that demonstrated Unlike Assam and Ma(less than) five years, the the dynamism of harashtra, Bihar was length of roads and numbereft of a powerful sober of bridges constructdemocracy: He set cio-cultural movement. ed is greater than that up fast-track courts Only ethical politics can constructing in the preto tighten the states energise the decadent ceding five decades! socio-economic and culBihar was considered stranglehold on tural spaces. This was to the capital of the kidamply demonstrated napping industry. In 2005 criminals and he came alone, the number of kidout with a law to attach when the Bihar governintroduced severnappings soared to 1,393. and confiscate illegally ment al welfare programmes The last four years saw acquired wealth of after restoring the auan astounding drop, just thority of the state. 317! How effective law is officials. Some of these proin daily life of people? In grammes became role 2009, the state, known for models for the country such as 50 percent its brazen booth-capturing and poll vioreservation for women in panchayats, lence witnessed peaceful polling without confiscation of ill-gotten properties of corshedding any blood. The effect of the awe rupt officials, recruitment of retired army and authority of the state was there for all jawans, school uniforms for girl students, to see. opening up of engineering schools and Critics of democracy describe it as a sysconstruction of parks. All these efforts tem that is tardy and lethargic and that have shaken the foundation of the feudal it does not show quick results. But Nitish society. Bihar still lags far behind in the Kumar proved the critics wrong by introdevelopment race. Yet the states finance ducing two experiments that demonstratdepartment says that it will catch up with ed the dynamism of democracy: Setting Maharashtra if the state continues to up fast track courts to tighten the states clock 11.03 percent of growth rate for the stranglehold on criminals. next 16 years. There is a gradual transHe came out with a legislation to attach formation in the feudal outlook of the adand confiscate illegally acquired wealth ministration where the reigning slogan in of officials. After a great deal of delay, the the state secretariat and power corridors till five year back was, 12 baje tak late nahin, 3 baje ke baad bhent nahin (noon is not late for work to begin, 3 pm is too late to be working). There is no doubt that Bihar has been facing serious challenges. The power crisis, large-scale corruption and the largely unchanged Bihari mindset are big impediments. If teachers remain absent, professors avoid classes, doctors and nurses shun hospitals and patients, it is reflective of a certain mind-set which is the result of decades of sedimentation. Politicians have a vested interest in preserving this status quo. Only good politics can uproot this status quo and regenerate the social and cultural lives of Bihar. Nitish Kumar has taken baby steps in this direction but the question that haunts everybody is: What will happen if Lalu Prasad comes back? Ironically, Lalu himself has started talking about building a new Bihar. Thankfully, even Lalu cannot stray from the development agenda that Nitish Kumar has set. He will dare not because a very large section of people have tasted the fruits of development and rule of law. This social section is no longer guided by caste hostilities and religious chauvinism. This is the direct effect of Nitish Kumars work. Irrespective of which political dispensation is in power, the pro-development segment of society will not keep silent. After decades the people of Bihar have been imbued with a sense of Bihari pride. It is difficult to say how far this has permeated the caste and religious divides but a new beginning has been made. The Centres discrimination against Bihar and Raj Thackerays antiBihari tirade have added to this feeling. There is no doubt that Nitish Kumar has changed the political agenda of the state. The issue of development has become the fulcrum of public debate. He is the first chief minister to have visited historic places like Nalanda, Rajgir, Vaishali, Gaya, Chirand, Telhara and Chechak where lies buried the glorious historical past of India. His tours to these places and plans to rebuild them have brought into light the cultural significance of Bihar. His move to rebuild Nalanda university and once again put it on the academic map of the world is an attempt at assimilating the grandeur of the past with a promising future that beckons Bihar. n
Harivansh is the chief editor of the Prabhat Khabar.
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Being safe in Bihar
Ravi Choudhary
Bihars escape from criminality

In terms of law and order, Bihar has risen from the ashes. Today people dont prize anything as much as they do safety and security
urnendu Ojha, a paediatrician in Patnas upmarket Kankarbagh locality, can never forget September 2001. Those were the days when kidnapping for ransom was a flourishing industry in Bihar. Doctors were the preferred targets, presumably because of their obvious monetary value. Being
Brajesh Kumar
picked at the rate of almost one every month, doctors in Patna lived in fear. Though several of his colleagues had been kidnapped, Ojha believed, naively, that he was a far less attractive candidate than many others. He was proved wrong one evening when four motorcycle-borne men waylaid him as soon as he got into his car parked outside Sri Ram hospital,
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(Left) Maurya Complex, Patnas favourite hangout, teems with people enjoying themselves at 9 in the night.
where he worked as a senior resident doctor, forced him into their car, and drove off. Ojha says he was tortured for five days while the kidnappers demanded Rs 80 lakh in ransom. The police launched a massive hunt for the kidnappers in several districts of Bihar. Fortunately, their efforts were successful this time. Ojha was released. He returned home but could never return to normal life for a very long time. For several weeks, I was bent on leaving the blighted city for good, recalls the mild mannered doctor. Finally, however, the practical difficulties of shifting base from a place where he had been practising for years prevailed over his fears. Ojha couldnt move out of Patna but virtually shielded himself from the rest of the city. His residence, where he also opened his private clinic, was turned into a fortress with armed guards screening all visitors. Circumstances remained such for Ojha until November 2005 when Nitish Kumar ended Lalu Yadavs long rule and the kidnapping industry began to be dismantled. In four and half years since, the crime graph has fallen dramatically. Kidnappings for ransom came down from 411 in 2004 to 62 in 2009; road robberies from 1,875 to 720; dacoities from 1,297 to 505 and murders from 3861 to 2,438. There are no guards, on whom he once spent Rs 40,000 per month, at Ojhas clinic today. He has even been venturing out more frequently, for ice-cream at Maurya Complex and an occasional night show at the recently renovated Mona Cinema. Things have changed. It feels good to be in Patna now, he says. Patna does seem safer now; at Maurya Complex, Patnas favourite hangout, one can see crowds of people at 9 pm. Earlier, my husband would have given me an earful if I had suggested going out to have chaat; not now, says Ratna Tripathi, a housewife and one of a group of women visiting Maurya Complex to relish
For several weeks after being released by my kidnappers, I was bent on leaving Patna for good. Thangs have changed since then. It feels good to be in Patna now.
Purnendu Ojha Paediatrician, Patna
some spicy snacks. Rajesh Pandey, who owns a consumer electronics store at Sri Hari Niwas Complex, adjacent to Maurya Complex, says his business has benefited immensely from improved law and order. He receives customers at 9.30 pm at his showroom without worrying that someone will barge into his store to demand rangdari tax (protection money). Public confidence in law and order is also back elsewhere in Bihar. Sarju Sihna, a cab driver in Arwal, some 100 km away from Patna, says his town has not witnessed any major crime in last few years and people sleep in peace. D K Pandey, a physician posted at Peuro in Bhojpur district, says he travels to his home in Patna at any hour, which was not possible earlier. I dont remember boarding a train after 6 pm in the 1990s and early 2000s. Today you will find all the trains between Patna and other districts running full even at 10 pm. A dozen of notorious criminalsturned-politicians like Mohammad Sahabuddin and Anand Mohan Singh have been convicted through speedy trials in the last four and half years. From the time Nitish Kumar government came into office to May 2010, 49,612(as compared to 10,000 between 19952005) people have been convicted. Of that number, 8,751 received life imprisonment, 2,345 less than 10 years of imprisonment and 28,356 got more than 10 years jail terms. People in Bihar, however, understand that improvement in law and order still runs several risks, most notably the return of political patronage of criminals. It would be dangerous to believe that criminals have been crushed; they are lying low waiting for a more conducive atmosphere. So its important that the present regime returns to power for a second term, says a senior official who would not like to be named. Whoever comes to power, people of Bihar have come to realise the value of law and order. n
brajesh@governancenow.com
Mrigank, Vodafone executive, Patna
Pranav Pandey, MTS executive, Sitamarhi
Vikash Kumar, UNINOR executive, Nawada
Today Patna is as good as any metro city. All the major brands are here. This was unthinkable during the reign of Lalu-Rabri.
I have been in
Sitamarhi for last six months and the changes I see here are phenomenal. The musclemen are gone, the roads are better.
Earlier, say four years back, I would not have left Patna for Nawada where I work for the UNINOR. Though safety was an issue all across the state, the capital city was safer compared to Nawada. However, in the last few years, there has been a sea change in the law and order situation. So now I am absolutely safe working anywhere in the state.
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the telecom guys Patna
Ravi Choudhary
Gautam Singh, Vodafone executive, Patna
Amit Sinha, Vodafone executive, Patna
Siddartha, Vodfone executive, Muzaffarpur
People our age are no longer leaving the state. Job opportunities have increased manifold. Earlier, most of us left for Delhi or some other greener pastures. Today we are happy working in our own home towns.
Look at the crowd at
Maurya Lok. You would not have seen this earlier when the shops used to close at 7 pm. Our parents no longer make calls if we are not back home by 7.30 pm.
You would not
recognise Muzaffarpur if you visit the town now. It has changed so much. The crime rate is down, business is booming and you hardly have to visit Patna for anything.
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Being Safe in Bihar
Why I returned to Bihar
r Hemant Kumar, a senior resident doctor at the Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Hospital in Delhi, wanted to serve people of his hometown, Barauni in Bihar; but for long, it just remained a dream as the kidnapping industry was booming. Now that the law and order situation has improved, he has realised that dream. His story in his own words. Ever since I qualified for MBBS and became the only doctor in my family, I cherished this dream of setting up my own hospital in my hometown, Barauni in Begusarai district. The idea was to make available state-of-theart facilities to people of my town who often had to travel all the way to Patna, which is some 200 km away, for medical treatment. Unlike the state capital or other places where there are hospitals with medical colleges, Barauni does not have a decent hospital with even the basic facilities. So this desire of returning to my hometown and providing my services was always strong. But earlier I was wary because the environment there was not conducive. Kidnapping for ransom was rampant and one used to hear stories of doctors being kidnapped every other day. After the regime changed in November 2005, I waited for a while. After it became clear that the new government was serious about tackling the law and order situation, I decided to give shape to my longcherished dream. My objective was to provide the people of Barauni all basic facilities that a good hospital does. Making money was never the aim. I have earned enough through research and residency in Delhis (Deen Dayal Upadhyaya) hospital. Once I made up my mind about coming back, I bought some land in my hometown and started working on the hospital building. I convinced my wife and some of my friends to join the venture. The plan was to start a modular, low-cost 100bed multi-speciality hospital with basic-toadvanced facilities. What I mean by basic-to-advanced facilities is basic infrastructure with some
This mothers nightmares are over

Jyotsana Shahi
facilities that will help patients in emergencies. We are not aiming at heart transplant or angioplasty kind of services but only those that are life saving. For example, in case of a heart attack a person needs immediate care. Currently, one primary health centre caters to Barauni and the area around it in a 20 km radius. Even private clinics here do not admit patients in case of emergency. They will refer them to Patna. When we begin our services, we will have facilities like ultrasound machine, x-ray, four-bed cardiac care unit, one ventilator, an ambulance equipped with cardiac monitoring unit, transport ventilator and blood test unit, among others. Now that the hospital is almost ready, I am happy I have realised my dream. It feels good to be back in my own hometown and serve my own people. My friends were taken aback when I told them about my decision, but now that I am here, they understand my sentiments. It will also send a message to those who want to come back. (As told to Brajesh Kumar)
t is indeed a welcome relief from the past. I have two sons who were studying outside Bihar. And it was literally a nightmarish experience when they used to visit our home in Maharajganj in Siwan district. I can very vividly recall when one of my sons told me that he would be arriving at the Siwan railway station late in the night. Those were the days when Siwan appeared to be most dangerous place on the earth. Gangsters ruled the roost and daylight murders were the order of the day. I went to the railway station in the evening. But the problem was that even waiting room of the station was unsafe. So I decided to while my time by taking a seat beside the tea vendors on the platform. When my son arrived by the train, I could not dare to take him back in the midnight though my home was only a few kilometres away. It was a wintry night and we found the cold unbearable as the night passed. But we could not do anything. It was only in the morning around 7 that I decided to take my son back home. Only five years back, this was routine for me whenever my sons arrived late in the night. But now things have completely changed. I am hardly bothered about the safety of my sons. My husband, who is a doctor, roams freely around the region to attend to patients. This is a new experience of life in Siwan it was otherwise a dream in this area.
Shahi is a schoolteacher at Maharajganj in Siwan.
Deliverance, developm
Now that fear has been exorcised from the mindscape, people are fast shifting their focus from survival to life. But the high-speed highways can be deceptive indicators of the pace of all-round progress
he fields are lush green with traces of early morning showers and the monsoon sky laden with click-me-now clouds. Inside the bhell-maintained air-conditioned Ambassador racing on the road increasingly travelled, you could well imagine yourself anywhere special in the country. The landscape is partHimalayan part-coastal but the humid weather outside and miles of open spaces along the way are more reminiscent of the latter. Om Prakash, our driver,
Ashish Sharma
guide and political philosopher for the day speaks up, breaks the reverie and brings us right back to Bihar. Yahan toh Mauritius, China ya Japan nahin na hone waala hai na Sir. Jo log continue bhookhe hi rahe hon unko khaana-e mil gaya kaun kam baat hai. Aap nahin na imagine kar sakte hain na Sir ki humko kitni khushi ho rahi hai. Do-teen saal pehle aaye rehte na aap toh ro dete Sir, sadak mein gaddha hai ki gaddha mein sadak hai pata hi nahin chalta (This is not going to suddenly turn into Mauritius, China or Japan. But those who have
always known hunger are bound to be overjoyed at the prospect of something to eat. Had you come here just two-three years ago, you would have cried out in despair and found it difficult to make out whether this was a road full of potholes or potholes with a semblance of a road). Cruising along National Highway 98 from Patna to Fatuah and then along NH 30 to Bakhtiarpur and on to NH 31 and NH 30A, it is indeed difficult to imagine the recent past minus these roads. As we find out during the course of the day, along with safe and smooth roads have
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photos: Ravi Choudha ry

Hope And Hype
arrived truckloads of expectations for a long-suppressed people. Now that fear has been exorcised from the mindscape, people are fast shifting their focus from survival to life, from needs to wants. The high-speed highways can, however, be deceptive indicators of all-round development. Pentup aspirations are unlikely to be fulfilled anywhere as soon as they are unleashed. Not least in Bihar where the government has only begun to reach the basics to a majority of the population. Belchhi, our first stop and site of the states first caste-based massacre, in 1977, when kurmi landlords burnt 11 dalits, is a case in point. The road from Harnaut to Saksohra that takes you there has been de-
has taken place), insists Jamun Manjhi, who says he is 60 but looks much older. Ghar hi nahin hai toh aur kaa bataayein (when we dont have even a place to stay, what do we say about other things)? asks Sapti Devi, raising a common concern among the landless labourers in the village which still has only mud-and-brick houses with thatched roofs. With expansion and division of families, people have been forced to encroach upon public land along the newly-laid highway, she says, and points to Chani Rakhmani who is busy digging to erect a shelter for himself and his family. Vijay Manjhi explains that the school is there but teachers dont come regularly; the primary health
ent and discontent

clared NH 30A, Belchhi has grown from a panchayat to a block, complete with a block development office and a police station. Theres a recently-upgraded middle school, a primary health centre opened up last year and the authorities have even erected a clutch of open pan toilets. Much of it, especially the primary health centre and improved access to the village has happened over the past couple of years. If these signs are encouraging enough, though, there is much to remind you of the continuing rural distress as well. Kuchho nahin hua (No progress
Much of it (development), especially the primary health centre and improved access to the village has happened over the past couple of years in Belchhi, site of Bihars first caste-based massacre.
centre is either closed or perpetually out of stocks of medicine; the local political representatives, including the sarpanch, dont care about the villagers concerns; gram sabha meetings never take place; corruption has been institutionalised in the centrally-sponsored Indira Awas Yojana, which provides assistance for housing to the rural poor, and the ration meant for people below the poverty line. So, you cant get assistance of Rs 45,000 under the Indira Awas Yojana unless you cough up at least Rs 5,000, he says. On the other hand, anybody who is ready to pay up can acquire entitlement to the scheme. The classification itself is arbitrary, with members of the same family figuring under the below poverty line and above poverty line categories without separate sources of income. And even those who have the BPL cards never get the full quota of the mandated 21 kg rice and 14 kg wheat at Rs 3 per kg and Rs 2 per kg respectively. Some BPL families have got power connections but the 25 KV transformer meant for the village is servicing the block development office and the police station, villagers say. Tunhu Yadav, 46, and Satyendra Prasad, 32, say there is not enough work available under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act and whatever little is offered never fetches the mandated wages. There is little choice but to go out of the state to look for work, they say. The only person who is not complaining is the station house officer, Sunil Kumar Singh, who has 52 villages under his charge. There is little crime in the area, he says, and in any case the police are free to act when need be without any undue pressure from the politicians. Singh says even the thana came up after the massacre, which famously also brought Indira Gandhi to campaign in the village atop an elephant, perhaps the only dependable mode of transport at

Hope And Hype
Aakhir gaaon ka gaurav hai. Luteron mein phansa hai, par kuchh karbo toh karta hai. Doosra sab toh zero par out ho gaya. (After all, Nitish Kumar is the pride of our village. He is caught between corrupt officials but at least he is doing some work. The rest never did anything), says Umesh Prasad.
the time given the state of roads. Few people in the village are interested in recounting the horrors of the past. They have their hands much too full with the problems of the present. It is Nag Panchmi, a holy day, they agree, but should the school, the primary health centre, the anganwadi and the block development office be all shut, they ask. After all, it is not a declared holiday. Paro Devi says the concessions announced for the mahadalits are no more than a sham because nobody has yet got anything under the state governments schemes. Just look at the open toilets, says Satyendra Prasad. Aise bathroom mein jaaiyega aap (Will you use such a toilet)? he asks, and somebody quips, Jaisa wahan bathroom rehta hai waise toh yahan room nahin hoga gaaon mein (we dont even have rooms of the quality of toilets in the cities). The lush green of the fields too, it turns out, is not quite as lifesustaining as it seems either. It hasnt rained enough to allow sowing this year. In fact, in years of regular rainfall, the way through
the fields to the school is drowned in waist-deep water, they say. Yet, the open spaces of the village are far preferable to the congested cities, you say with some feeling. They agree. So toh hai. Dilli ki dawa aur Bihar ki hawa barabar hai (Thats true. Bihars air is as therapeutic as Delhis medicines). Out once again on the highway, it seems it will take more than fast roads to bridge the wide gulf between policies and implementation. But physical bridges there are aplenty, including a brand new one just short of the chief ministers native village Kalyan Bigaha in Nalanda district. Mukhya Mantri ka gaaon hai, koi mazaaq hai (After all, it is meant to connect the chief ministers village, isnt it), Om Prakash explains. Ironically, though, the chief ministers drive to build roads has cost his native village dear. Chhote Ram, his wife Neelam Devi and father Ramji Ram are living in constant fear that their mud shelter can be demolished any time. Like many other landless labourers they have been living in a mud house along the road close
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(From left) Mud shelter facing demolition in Nitish Kumars native village; Sitaram inside the CMs ancestral home; and children in Belchhi village posing outside a locked anganwadi centre
to the entrance to the village. But the road has to be widened, they have been told, so they better stay prepared. We are ready to move out but we are not being offered any alternative accommodation, complains Chhote Ram. Umesh Prasad, 60, says the village has suffered due to another road as well, which caused the demolition of a dam near Harnaut just three kilometres away. As a result, water scarcity has become a critical issue for the community which depends almost exclusively on farming. We have approached our local political representatives and even sent written requests to the chief minister, but nobody did anything to help us, says Prasad. Everybody, including Shatrughan Thakur, Ram Snehi Singh, Tej Pratap Singh and Krishan Chander Singh, however, agrees that Kalyan Bigaha has still gained on account of being the chief ministers village. The high school that is coming up, the hospital, the industrial training institute have all come up over the past five years. Power is not an issue here either. And, like elsewhere in the state,
schoolchildren from ninth standard onwards get bicycles gifted by the state government. Sitaram, the barahil (retainer) who looks after the chief ministers farming land and ancestral home sleeps in this house while his family lives elsewhere in the village. Nitish Kumars family had nearly 20 bigha but some of the land has been used up in the memorial that he built for his father and wife. In fact, Sitaram says, the chief minister comes to the village only twice a year, on May 14 and November 29, the death anniversaries of his wife and father. But Sitaram goes to meet the chief minister in Patna sometimes. I go whenever I feel like it. I stay in the CM house. There is no restriction for me. Before me, my father used to be the caretaker here, he says, and adds that wheat, rice, daal and chana are grown on the chief ministers lands, I keep some money for myself and hand over about Rs 75,000 a year to the chief minister. Even as most of the villagers complain that the chief minister could have done more to rein in corrupt administrators, they
are unanimous in their view that they will vote for him once again. Aakhir gaaon ka gaurav hai. Luteron mein phansa hai par kuchh karbo toh karta hai. Doosra sab toh zero par out ho gaya (After all, he is the pride of our village. He is caught between corrupt officials but at least he is doing some work. The rest never did anything), says Umesh Prasad. Prasad is only echoing the sentiment expressed by the residents of Belchhi village. Laluji waapis nahin aane chahiyein, ghoorte rahein bhains pe baithe chahe jitna bhi (Lalu Prasad should not be voted back, let him try as much as he can from atop his buffalo), somebody belonging to a dalit caste had remarked there. Interestingly, that is a village where kurmis, belonging to Nitish Kumars caste, had massacred dalits. Even as there is widespread vocal resentment at the slow pace of progress, then, it does seem that a demonstrable intent to govern can hope to cast aside traditional prejudices even in Bihar. n
ashishs@governancenow.com
Healthcare recovery
Swapan Majumdar
Time was when government hospitals were seen as stairway to heaven. Then came the National Rural Health Mission and the state has been making incremental improvements
ill about five years ago, government health centres in Bihar were a direct stairway to heaven. With hospital buildings, if any, in a dilapidated state and primary health centres (PHCs) with no doctors or equipments, health service delivery was a distant dream for Bihar
as there was no service to be delivered. People said, Agar yamraj ke paas jaana hai to sarkari swasthaya kendra jao. Hospitals, departments and health centres had no accountability. Money was coming and going without being used for the purpose for which it was allotted. There was absolutely no monitoring. Health graphs in Bihar were going from bad to worse. Health systems were merely operational on paper. In 2005 came the UPA governments flagship programme, National Rural Health Mission (NRHM). With it, came health societies at the state and district levels carrying health services to the people. These district health societies identified the needs of the people in
their areas and planned budget for the problems identified. Decentralisation of the health delivery system led to community participation and, hence, demand creation. As NRHM funds started coming in, building health infrastructure became the state governments first priority. New hospital buildings came up which gave patients the added psychological support. Hospital equipment was also procured through the NRHM money. Getting the infrastructure in place was perhaps the first step towards reviving the health sector in Bihar. Simultaneously, the state government started the process of filling vacant posts in hospitals
and health centres on contractual basis. Doctors, paramedical staff A-level nurses, lab technicians, auxiliary nurse midwives (ANMs) and pharmacists were hired and posted in the PHCs and referral hospitals. Incentives like higher salaries were offered to attract and retain these professionals. However, the state still faces a shortage of pharmacists and gynaecologists. The PHCs in every district of Bihar have the capacity to cater not more than 30,000 people. As the population of the state increased, one PHC was not enough for the population which crossed 1.5 lakh mark in some districts. So, the Bihar government came up with a unique concept of additional
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Ravi Choudhar y

Healing Touch
Patient turnout
primary health centres. These centres eased the pressure off the PHCs and became a link between the PHCs and the patients. However, the state failed to tap the full potential of the social development organisations in districts which play a major role in reaching out to the community. The role of these organisations was restricted to the public-private partnership programmes. They were approached for hospitals maintenance, cleaning and catering and were kept away from spreading social awareness to the local communities, which these organisations are best at. Though stressing on implementation of the well-designed programmes under the NRHM, Bihar could not extricate itself from the strong hierarchy in allotting funds to communities for smooth health delivery. This acted as a disincentive to many performing social organisations which wished to work with the additional PHCs. Capable of taking their own policy decisions based on their communitys needs, they found themselves dependent on higher authorities for funds. Many organisations came and left after getting discouraged by lengthy implementation processes. The layered health delivery system documented under NRHM also talks of forming a Patient Welfare Committee (PWC) which was also established by the state for monitoring the working of doctors and other hospital staff besides checking the availability and quality of medicines at PHCs. Since there is a constant effort to decentralise healthcare in the state, the role of panchayat representatives cannot be neglected. These representatives understand their communitys needs the best. They play the role of watchdogs in any system and sector. For efficiency in health delivery
Number of Patient examined in OPD

350 300 250 200 150 100 50 0
Total no of OPD (in Lakhs)
296 160
105
153
2006-07
2007-08
2008-09 Year
2009-10
No. of indoor patients

25
No. of IPD (in lakhs)
20 15 10 5 0 2007-08 2008-09 Year 2009-10 14.02 7.98 20.37
No. of institutional (govt.) deliveries
% of fully immunised children
and fulfilling the intention of reaching the last person in the state, there is a need for better orientation of panchayat representatives so that they deliver the same message to their villages. Institutional childbirth, the focus of NRHM, have gone up in Bihar since 2005. The condition at the government hospitals was so abysmal that women preferred delivering at home with the help of local daayis (midwives). National maternity benefits provide cash incentives to pregnant women to encourage them to deliver at hospitals. The state government extended this scheme and roped in women who delivered at home. These women are also given cash benefits for taking care of themselves and the newborn and their records are also documented. These women are then encouraged to come to the hospital for the childs immunisation. A lot of areas of the health system are still untouched like adolescent health. Counseling centres where they come and share things they cannot share with their parents or friends are needed. Similarly, provisions must be made for sending doctors to the periphery hospitals where they feel safe and their families can live with dignity. Bihar, after decades of neglect, has started the process of revival of its health services which will win the trust of people in the system. Building infrastructure is seen as the first step towards achieving this trust. Attracting people to the health centres so that they demand their health rights is a gradual process and has to be sustainable for improved results. n (As told to Sonal Matharu)
Majumdar is executive director, Bihar Voluntary Health Association, Patna.

Bihars Helmsman
INTERVIEW n N i t i s h k u m a r
In the past five years Bihars political grammar has changed but Lalu and Paswan are still following the old syllabus.
ihar chief minister Nitish Kumar has the image of a quiet and contented politician. Unlike several of his peers, he shuns rhetoric and yet makes his point cogently to his audience in Bihar. Having launched his campaign seeking to renew the mandate in the next assembly elections, Kumar has been harping on development and Bihari pride, themes that are alien to the states political culture dominated as it has long been by the three Cs caste, criminals and cash. Has he been able to induce any change in Bihars political grammar? Or is he chasing a chimera in a society inured to traditional caste hostilities and enamoured of
caste Robinhoods? There are many questions that beg answers. In a wideranging interview with Ajay Singh, Nitish Kumar talks about his politics, his performance in the last five years, and his plans for the future.
an attempt. My intentions were honest. That is a matter of great satisfaction for me.
How do you rate the performance of the government you have headed since November 2005?
When you took over five years ago what exactly were your concerns? How did you plan to address them?
I can say with ample satisfaction that I have tried my level best to provide good governance in Bihar. I have made every effort to make the administration accountable to the people and to empower the people. I would not say that I have given the ideal governance. There may be certain shortcomings in my governments functioning. And there is no ideal government that can satisfy everyone. But nobody can find fault with me for not making
Law and order was my first priority. When I held my first meeting with police officers, I learnt to my dismay that average age of constables in Bihar was 38 years. That meant that there was no infusion of young blood in our police force for the past 10 years. I found the constabulary to be demoralised. I inducted nearly 12,000 constables to infuse young blood in the police and increase the police-citizen ratio. Even now, Bihars police-citizen ratio of 69 personnel for a lakh of population is the lowest in the country, as against the national average of 124. We have
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p h otos : R av i Choudha ry
to recruit 45,000-50,000 constables more to reach the national average. Constables are being given allowance for uniforms to give the police a semblance of smartly-dressed and professional force. They are being trained in a milieu that is suited to the state.
But Bihar does not have proper training institutes.
We have overcome that constraint. Our Bhagalpur training centre has been training constables and building their capacity. In fact, its one of the oldest police training centres in the country. I rejected the proposal to send our constables for training to other states. You see, every decision has to be seen in social perspective. If we start sending constables to other states, they will be guided by the social milieu of those states. For
To a certain extent, the Bihari sub-nationalism has toned down the divisive effect of caste behaviour. I want to make Bihari subnationalism a melting pot of all identities. I want a Bihari identity that will subsume all caste identities. That will be my last battle for Bihar.
better and rigorous training, our constables have undergone training with the BSF and the CRPF. About 50-odd constables were sacked for opposing the training. Everyone has now fallen in line. You can see the difference now as constables in Bihar are not only well-dressed but also appear to be well-disciplined and trained.
How did you deal with the so-called criminals who enjoyed the image of caste Robinhoods and infiltrated the legislature? Some of them were in your party too.
My primary task was to build governance from the scratch. I had inherited the legacy of absence of governance. My focus on restoring confidence of the police was intended to restore the authority of the state. Once we succeeded in that, our

Bihars Helmsman
next step was to check criminality. We devised a way for speedy trials. The police launched a campaign to bring all those carrying illegal weapons to book. In fact, under the Arms Act, the policemen appear as witnesses. Speedy trials have enabled higher conviction rates; in the last five years, 49,000 people have been convicted. That has emboldened people to complain against gangsters irrespective of the political affiliations of the latter. One by one, people with criminal antecedents have found themselves caught in the stranglehold of law. Some of them were from my party. But my message to the police was simple: let the law take its course without caring for political affiliations.
Have you purged the political space of criminals? Can you safely say that Bihar politics has been decriminalised?
I am under no illusion to make such a tall claim. There may be people with criminal antecedents even in my party. This is a social phenomenon that cannot be addressed by governance alone. My limited objective has been to instill confidence in the people and help them overcome their fear. If anyone violates the law, he will be dealt with as per the rule book. And there will be no exception. I can say it with satisfaction that Bihar is free of fear now. You look at school-going girls riding their cycles in hordes in every village. Not only in Patna, but even in smaller towns, businessmen are not afraid of keeping their shops open till late in the night. Businessmen are returning to set up their projects in Bihar. This is certainly a great achievement that gives me immense satisfaction.
How have you made the bureaucracy
It had been a strange situation in Bihar; a set of bureaucrats believed in inaction, which also meant that they became unaccountable over the years. There is a catch-phrase: If you dont do anything, you wont be caught. So I called a meeting of all senior officials and told them plainly: you will also be accountable for any act of omission. At the same time, I assured them that they would be adequately protected even if they erred in the line of duty. I generated confidence among officials who started performing very well. There may be some who still believe in non-action. It is better to ignore them and continue with your work. By and large I have relied on the same set of bureaucrats. In Indian system, bureaucracy is permanent.
respond to your initiatives? Did you choose a set of bureaucrats or decide to make do with the same people?
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Hence it is futile to pick and choose. I continued with the existing staff and they delivered good results.
There have been insinuations that you are over-dependent on bureaucrats. How correct is that perception?
Let them suggest any other model of governance and I will rely on that. This is an absurd insinuation as I have no other choice but to rely on bureaucracy which is subservient to the political executive. I have made it a part of their duty to hold regular interaction with people. In a recent survey, we found that 88 per cent of the respondents know about this practice of interaction between officials and the citizens. They want their grievances redressed and come to me if the officials are not able to help them. This process has established a direct link between the administration and the citizens, without intermediaries like local leaders and legislators, some of whom have made a hullabaloo over this change. The chief secretary has been asked to monitor the progress of these interactions every month. The public mindset will gradually get attuned to this new culture of governance. I have told my party leaders and legislators to do other works for citizens welfare instead of craving for an intermediary role between people and bureaucracy.
We have established a system of regular interaction between the bureaucracy and the people. This system has done away with intermediaries like local legislators some of whom made a hullabaloo over this change.
When I took over, I had mentally prepared some dos and donts. I had made up my mind to work for a society free of fear even if I were to lose my government in the process. But certainly, I was cautious enough not to start anything radical for which the society was not prepared. After building peoples confidence in the authority of the state, my next focus was human resources and infrastructure. We built over 15,000 schools and increased enrolment. Only four years ago, a study pointed out that 25 lakh children had no access to formal education. Since then that number has been brought down to eight lakh, meaning a drastic increase in enrolment of students in primary schools. Then we had a huge shortfall of teachers. Over two lakh primary teachers were appointed. Two lakh more teachers need to be appointed.
issue. My priority had to be quantity. Once the enrolment increased, we were sure that the quality of education would improve. The government has been conducting eligibility test for recruitment of teachers. And teachers are being recruited through the panchayats and urban local bodies. The Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU) has also been conducting mid-course training for all teachers. We have stopped giving salary increments to teachers who failed their state-level eligibility test. Given the kind of backlog we had, I did not wait to address the problem. Taiyari karte rahte to samay nikal jata (preparations would have inordinately delayed the job). I began the job in right earnest. The next focus would certainly be on quality.
There was an expectation that investment would come to Bihar during your rule. That did not happen. Why is it that your government could not attract private investment?
How did you prioritise your work? If you inherited the legacy of nongovernance, it might have required some serious planning to overcome that shortcoming.
But there is a general complaint that quality of teaching is poor. Isnt there a big gap in teachers training?
In some cases, it could be a genuine complaint. But by and large, teachers are attending schools and imparting good education. I am not claiming that I have addressed the quality
It would not be an exaggeration to say that the centre is responsible for that. We got private investment proposals for sugar industry and thermal power plants, but the centre has been throwing spanner in the works. We wanted to make Bihar an ethanol hub, but it was suddenly decided that all greenfield projects of sugar industry will need central governments approval. And we have not been given approval. There were many proposals to set up thermal power plants, but we were not given coal linkages. There has been no progress on these projects.

Bihars Helmsman
That the Centre is determined to stall Bihars development is evident by the fact that now we are not allowed to give water to thermal power plants. We may suffer floods year after year, but we need approval of the Central Water Commission for allocating river water to thermal power plants. The centres suspect intentions are also borne out by the fact that the prime minister has been avoiding meeting an all-party delegation from Bihar for four years on the issue of giving special category status to the state.
Our Bhagalpur centre has been training constables. I rejected the proposal to send our constables to other states. You see every decision has to be seen in social perspective. If we start sending constables to other states, they will be guided by the social milieu of those states.
meetings with the BJP leaders, I tried to convince them that it would be wrong to introduce new elements in the Bihar election campaign. I asked them whether they would agree to contest on less number of seats if I request them to do so? They will not. So how can they expect me to allow introduction of new elements in the campaign? They seem to understand my point of view.
But I learnt that you are given special attention by the prime minister whenever he hosts any function in Delhi?
Are you not seeking a larger share of seats this time as the build-up to the election seems to be veering around your personality and performance?
That is true. But the prime minister is also accountable to a political party. And the problem with the Congress is that it opposes any move that my government initiates, including the ones whose only aim is to spur economic growth.
I am never guided by such expansionist ambition. The thought that my party should contest more seats never crossed my mind. My only intention was to be pragmatic in running the coalition.
How is your equation with the BJP now? Is there still ill will over the episode that preceded the BJPs national executive committee meeting in Patna, particularly your reaction to the advertisement allegedly put up by Narendra Modi?
How do you explain the trend of your old friends deserting you? Have you ever tried to analyse why this is happening?
That entire episode be best forgotten. My experience with the BJP in running the government has been excellent. We are keen to continue this coalition as it is best suited to the state. The coalition came to power five years ago on the promise of bringing change in Bihar. And let me tell
you on all issues, the BJP has been always helpful, including on the issue of bringing madarsas into mainstream education and introducing incentives for Muslim girl students.
Have you finalised seat-sharing with the BJP? Do you still insist on not allowing Narendra Modi and Varun Gandhi to campaign in Bihar?
Our coalition is intact. Nitty-gritty is being worked out. But in my recent
Our political history is full of such tendencies. Of course, it hurts when someone who has been close to you for decades deserts you and makes wild allegations against you. But how can I help it? I am focused on my goal and do not let such trivialities distract me. There is a Bihari parable that says, You dont try to start killing flies when they bother you during mealtimes; you just drive them away with one hand and continue eating with the other. My objective is certainly larger than those trivialities.
Dont you regard such parting of ways
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as a setback?
Not in the least. My future goal is more important.
What are your future goals? If you are re-elected to office, what will be your focus areas?
My focus would be to consolidate the gains that we have made. After improving infrastructure, my next aim would be to attract private investments. Bihars model of development would be different from other states. It cannot be based on large manufacturing units. Agro-based industries and food processing would be the key to the states development. I need to focus more on improvement of power situation. We have already undertaken some projects which may substantially take care of the states energy needs. I believe Bihars overall development needs to be judged on whether we are able to stop labour from migrating to other places in search of just two square meals a day. There is nothing wrong if people go out of the state for a better life. But migration for sustenance has to be stopped through a strong dose of development. That is our future plan. And we will be able to achieve this by diverting more resources to rural welfare schemes and lifting a large number of people from their below-poverty-line status. Once we attain this level, Bihar will not look back. I strongly feel that there is an inherent strength in this society. Yahan ke logon me dum hai, naheen to itne log yahan kyon rahte (People here have a lot of strength. Thats why so many of them live here
Bihars model of development would be different from other states. It cannot be based on large manufacturing units. Agro-based industries and food processing would be the key to the states development. We also need to focus on improving the power situation.
peoples consciousness level to a point where land reforms would get wide acceptability. All political parties and social groups, which feel for Bihar, are required to pool in their resources to make land reforms a socially acceptable agenda.
I have heard you emphasising on Bihar pride, a kind of Bihari sub-nationalism that will weaken caste and communal identities. What has been the response?
despite hardships).
Bihar is primarily an agrarian society. Yet the green revolution bypassed it. How do you propose to revive agriculture in the state?
Its true that Bihar has not realised its true potential in agriculture, but we are determined to be a part of the second green revolution. We are in constant consultation with the Indian Council of Agriculture Research (ICAR) to develop seed-villages in the state. This will ensure ample supply of certified seeds to farmers.
To a certain extent, Bihari sub-nationalism has toned down the divisive effect of caste behaviour. I want to make Bihari sub-nationalism a melting pot of all identities. I want a Bihari identity that will subsume all caste identities. That will be my last battle for Bihar.
You also talk about changing the grammar of Bihar politics? Has the grammar really changed?
Dont you feel your government has not been able to do enough in the area of land reforms?
This is indeed a very sensitive issue that needs to be addressed in a sensitive manner. Though we have initiated land consolidation and updating of land records, the other aspects of land reforms are unattended primarily because of the sensitivities involved. I am not sure if I will be able to raise
I once smugly told my son that I should be teaching him maths. I looked at his textbook in the evening and found to my amazement that the whole syllabus had changed from what I had imagined. I apologised to him for my smugness and told him that I needed to read the textbook first before making an effort to teach him. That is similar to the reality of Bihar politics today. In the past five years, the whole grammar has changed but Lalu Prasad and Ram Vilas Paswan are still clinging to the old syllabus. They will soon come to the same realisation. n
ajay@governancenow.com

Industry Wants More
photos: Ravi Choudhary
Boomtown blues
Just why is the industry cribbing in Bihar? For once in this state, the answers lie in politicians sins of omission
BIHAR
and Samsung are everywhere, as are denim and sports footwear biggies Levis and Reebok, but McDonalds, Cafe Coffee Day and others are yet to arrive. Traffic is more orderly than in, say, Lucknow, with fewer luxury saloons catching your eye than sturdy utility vehicles; the main roads are better than in some parts of Delhi; but it takes just a cursory parting of the heavens to flood the bylanes of even prime areas such as Boring Road. No, for a first-time visitor, there is nothing spectacular in Patna. But as everybody tells you, this humdrum life was so unimaginable just five years ago, this ordinariness is what is so remarkable today. Patna today is a city characterised by a shared past and millions of individual aspirations for the future. You need to belong to appreciate the mere act of awakening. You need to be saddled with the burden of history to fully savour the present that promises a better tomorrow. If you find more equanimity than exhilaration, it is simply because of the fear of the known: caste, which has traditionally been the decisive factor in Bihar politics. Ahead of the assembly polls, you can discern two powerful emotions among just about everybody you meet: fear of a possible return to the bad old days and aspiration to catch up with all that the lost years denied to the people of the state. Add to these two a growing exasperation with the seeming inability of the government to translate many of its policies into practice and you will get to grips with the social, political and economic climate in the city. Perhaps nowhere is this exasperation more pronounced than in the industry. Law and order has been restored over the past four and a half years. Political interference has subsided. The police have got back to work. Yet, a lot more needs to be done, says K P Jhunjhunwala, a former president of the Bihar Industries Association who also served as director on board of the State Bank of India, and explains, The administration needs to match the will of the politicians. Corruption has increased and infrastructural handicaps
STATE OF
Verbatim
Ashish Sharma
wo scenes are playing out almost simultaneously in this ongoing theatre of the incredible that has riveted audiences the world over. The setting is the Bihar Industrial Area Development Authority (BIADA) headquarters in the refurbished Udyog Bhawan on the eastern side of Patnas Gandhi Maidan. A couple of local entrepreneurs are discussing with a senior officer their requirement for land to set up a management institute. The officer instantly offers them several options and recommends a two-acre plot in Bhagalpur district. Meanwhile, in the main chamber at the end of the corridor, S Shiva Kumar, managing director of both BIADA and the Infrastructure Development Authority housed next door on the same floor, is busy assuring representatives of a bunch of farmers from Buxar district that his officers would visit their lands and facilitate best use of the same. Your area is rich in rice mills. If you have 52 acres, you can set up rice threshers and storage facilities. So, next time, you wont have to depend on threshers from Punjab. But you give us your suggestions first and then our officers will come over, sit with you and discuss the most profitable option, he promises them. If these scenes are a dead giveaway in the now-familiar story of economic resurgence and rapid growth, tarry a little, travel the short distance to the Bihar Industries Association on Sinha Library Road or the Bihar Chamber of Commerce on Judges Court Road and you will get much more nuanced perspectives on the turnaround tale. Along the way, notice the city that has the usual semi-urban air that overhangs most Indian towns. There is none of the breathless excitement that you might associate with a state capital experiencing the first flush of real development. Property prices have soared to match those in many parts of the national capital region. Electronics giants Panasonic, Sony
Ahead of the assembly polls, you can discern two powerful emotions in Bihar: fear of a possible return to the bad old days and aspiration to catch up with all that the lost years denied to the people of the state.
Shailendra P Sinha, Managing Director, Kalyanpur Cements
We know there are impediments to faster development as power generation needs time, but at least dont slap us with fuel surcharge bills with retrospective effect. Power its availability, cost and quality remains the key issue.
Ram Lall Khetan, Secretary General, Bihar Industries Association
There has been a surge of interest, but why would any investor come to Bihar unless the government offers more incentives? You have to compete with established investment destinations to woo serious investors.

Industry Wants More
BIHAR
continue to impede development. While progress has been made in roads and in communication, the same is not true of power and reforms in taxation. The government has failed to implement its own decisions taken in consultation with the industry. As a result, Jhunjhunwala says, commercial lending is almost non-existent as banks continue to insist on collateral of a whopping 200% of the loan amount. Public sector banks have changed only to the extent that they claim they dont need the collateral of 200% any longer, he says, but they dont lend easily either. No bank issues a credit card in the state. The government has failed to reimburse 80% of value-added tax charged to new entrepreneurs as promised. Food processing units are yet to get the promised subsidy, as are other small and medium enterprises. Whats more, says the secretary-general of the association, Ram Lall Khetan, businesses remain uncompetitive as the government is unable to charge entry tax on goods imported from the other states in the absence of checkpoints. Power its availability, cost and quality remains the key issue for us, says Shailendra P Sinha, managing director of Kalyanpur Cements and of Patnas premium Hotel Maurya. We know there are impediments to faster development as power generation needs time but at least dont slap us with fuel surcharge bills with retrospective effect, says Sinha, who is also the president of the industries association. Khetan adds that perhaps there is a political consideration at play here. Politicians seem to have realised that they cannot boost industry beyond a point in the absence of power, which needs a gestation period of several years, he says, Therefore, the government seems to have arrived at a conscious decision to pay more attention to agriculture than industry. Sinha, however, says the governments limitations are understandable to an extent because it faces two nearly insurmountable problems: recurring floods that ravage north Bihar with relentless regularity and the paucity of barren land for setting up industry. Besides that, power plants will require more water than is available, he says. With the result that, as Khetan points out, there is little incentive for an outsider to set up industry in the state. The government needs to be more liberal, like that in Gujarat, and adopt more investor-friendly policies, says Khetan, There has been a surge of interest in the opportunities in Bihar but why would anybody come unless the government offers more incentives than any other state? You have to compete with established destinations to invite serious investors. Yet, Sinha points out, there is investment waiting on the sidelines, including in two power plants worth Rs 6,000 crore - Rs 10,000 crore each. While many seem to be waiting for confirmation of renewed mandate to the present regime to rule for at least another five years, Kolkata-based English daily, The Telegraph, committed its investment and launched its Patna edition in the last week of July. There is no return to the pre-2005 days. Even if Lalu Prasad were to return to power, he would have to pursue an agenda of development, says Dipak Mishra, the chief of bureau who is leading the dailys editorial team in Patna, Nitish Kumars achievement is that he has brought in a semblance of governance and demolished the nexus between politicians and criminals. My friends among the police say they no longer get phone calls from politicians. But there is a downside to this as well, which is that the bureaucrats feel free not to do anything without demanding bribes, so corruption has probably grown. Significantly, as Mishra points out, even those who are critical of the chief ministers inability to rein in inefficient or corrupt administrators do not seek a return to the old dispensation. Those in the industry agree. The growth rate had actually turned negative between 1992 and 2004, reminds Jhunjhunwala. Yogeshwar Pandey, a former president of Bihar Chamber of Commerce, says deterioration in the state began as early as the 1960s and the situation degenerated to a fast slide under the previous regime. This government has at least prepared the ground for industrial growth. That in itself is a progress. Once it returns to power on the plank of development it will have further incentive to speed up the process, says Pandey. Mishra adds that Nitish Kumar seems to have budgeted for the caste factor as well. During his stint as Union railways minister, too, Nitish Kumar had announced a number of projects in Bihar. Yet, he lost and learnt the hard way that development alone doesnt ensure votes in this caste-driven polity. So, this time, he has managed caste and communal equations as well, wooing the mahadalits and sending out a message to the Muslims that he is in charge and not the Bharatiya Janata Party. That said, he remains on thin ice so far as electoral politics is concerned. That is Bihar for you, he says. Electoral equations aside, the message from the industry, as indeed the voters on the ground, seems pretty clear. What politics has reclaimed, governance needs to nurture. n
ashishs@governancenow.com
STATE OF
There is no return to the pre-2005 days. Even if Lalu Prasad were to return to power, he would have to pursue an agenda of development.... Nitish Kumar has brought in a semblance of governance.
Dipak Mishra, Chief of bureau, The Telegraph
Rajat Bartwal
Sikandar Nagar
Nilesh Dalvi
in Patna. We never expected it to be so safe. Whenever we visit Delhi we tell our friends Patna is not what they think it to be.
We are having fun
Mona Cinema is like
With more and more
any theatre in Delhi and we love watching movies there. People tell us watching a night show wasnt possible till some years back. We are lucky in that sense then.
educational institutions opening in the city, Patna will soon catch up with metros like Delhi and Bangalore. I am sure more and more students are going to come to the state in coming years.
BIHAR
STATE OF
students from NIFT, Patna
Ravi Choudhar y
Parshy Shankar
Mohit Ranjan
Shauhard Pal
We miss McDonald s
and Pizza Hut outlets. Now that so many brands are here in Bihar, I wonder when we will get to eat burgers and pizzas.
My parents were scared and my peers surprised when I told them I was going to NIFT Patna. To be very frank even I wasnt sure if it was the right thing to do. But I was wrong.
Though the city railway station

has improved in terms of the look and cleanliness, there are still problems of auto-rickshaws crowding the entrance. The parking area is also very small. The government needs to take a look at these issues, since the first impression that one gets of a city is through its railway station.
Commonwealth Charade S
A lot of irresponsible agencies and a lot of leaders competing to deliver funniest quotes: thats the story so far of the big event
Suresh Menon
o low are the expectations from the Commonwealth Games that all they need is for the microphone to be working when the oath is taken or Indian athletes to last the opening ceremony without fainting and it will be declared a grand success. Any official who can say, while watching a leaking roof that there are no faults in any of the roofs is special. Sports minister M S Gill, who said that, is obviously being wasted in his job. He needs to be our spokesman to the world, pointing out from a slum that there is no poverty in India or emphasising while accepting money under the table that there is no corruption either. The capital looks like something out of a black-and-white war movie. Doubtless to those responsible for the Games, it resembles Arcadia, and anyone who thinks
ashish asthana

Games Politicians Play
otherwise is anti-national. How those caught with their hands in the cookie jar will be treated will make for more riveting television than the Commonwealth Games, the most anachronistic sporting event in the calendar! It is rather like having the ancient Roman games, complete with chariot races. Seventy one former colonies getting together to showcase the legacy of British rule the mismanagement, red tape, exclusivity, corruptionis hardly inspiring. Especially when the top athletes decide they have better things to do, like train for real competition. Infrastructure disasters, technical equipment failures, possible money laundering have been the focus so far. And doubtless by the time you read this, a whole new lot of corruption charges will be revealed. Our wallet-thickening officials are creative, and it will take someone insufficiently bribed to blow the whistle on their activities. No one wants a Commonwealth Games disaster, that is why the organisers have thoughtfully provided us with a preGames disaster. Sports governance in our country is on a par with governance in some of our states and one doesnt know whether to laugh or cry. Or throw oneself off the roof of one of the stadiaif only one could find a safe place to do it from. Still, going by the pronouncements of those involved, it is very comforting to note that the Delhi government is not responsible, that the Organising Committee is not responsible, that Suresh Kalmadi is not responsible, that the sports ministry is not responsible for any of the mess. Thats a whole lot of irresponsible agencies, if you ask me. It is the fault of the rain that the roofs leak. It is the fault of the swimmers that the timers do not work. It is Mani Shankar Aiyars fault that he draws attention to the foul ups. And it is our fault, dear sports lovers, that we refuse to see this is a matter of national pride. Patriotism is the last resort of the scoundrel, as we were taught in school. It may be part of modern architecture to have it rain inside a building when it is raining outside. Not only are the roofs fine, but as urban development minister S Jaipal Reddy has pointed out, even the leakage is an optical illusion. Whatever the leakage is inside the stadium is because of our water drainage system, he has declared. These are being mistaken for leakage points. If there are any
It may be part of modern architecture to have it rain inside a building when it is raining outside. Not only are the roofs fine, but as urban development minister S Jaipal Reddy has pointed out, even the leakage is an optical illusion. Whatever the leakage is inside the stadium is because of our water drainage system, he has declared. If there are any leakages, they are being watched carefully. That last sentence is absolutely true. The leakages are being watched carefully by the media, by the sports lovers and by the rest of the world. His argument is, just because there are leaks, dont assume there are leaks.
leakages, they are being watched carefully. That last sentence is absolutely true. The leakages are being watched carefully by the media, by the sports lovers and by the rest of the world. His argument is, just because there are leaks, dont assume there are leaks. Does that top Gills profundity? In fact, an awareness programme for the public outside Delhi largely unaffected by the Commonwealth Games might be a competition to decide who has said the funniest things about the Games. Gill and Reddy might be near the top of the list, but what about Sheila Dikshit, who said, The way we are functioning, we would be saving money rather than overspending. This, about a Games event that has already overshot the budget more than 20 times over. Perhaps, her we is not the government, but a collection of individuals who have lined their pockets. Of course the corrupt would be saving money for themselves rather than overspending it. Then there is the reassurance from the big boss himself, Kalmadi, chairman of the Organising Committee. With corruption charges flying around, the city in a mess, athletes getting injured on half-built sites, everything running months behind schedule, national pride (his own favourite) at stake, budgets having gone through the same roof that is bringing in the rain water, he has said, There is nothing to worry, bringing to mind the mascot of Mad magazine, Alfred E Neuman and his famous question, What, me worry? Perhaps I do M S Gill an injustice. What he meant was not roof, but ceiling, and he is right when he says that there is nothing wrong with the ceiling. It began as a Rs 1,899 crore project, and is now already a Rs 35,000 crore project, with no ceiling in sight. The government will be forced to throw good money after bad. In the month and a half remaining, the government can do one of two things: outsource the Games, transfer it to Greenland where athletes not showing up will not matter (officials will show up anyway for the freebie), or get their spin doctors, Gill, Kalmadi, Dikshit to de-link national pride from sporting disasters. If everything fails, they need only to bring in Dom Cobb, the Leonardo di Caprio character from Inception, and plant the idea in a billion minds in the country that the Commonwealth Games were a grand success. n
talmenon@yahoo.com

MinisterSpeak
INTERVIEW
Virbhadra Singh
Domestic steel industry needs level playing field for access to mines
t a time when illegal mining and export of iron ore has become a political hot potato, union steel minister Virbhadra Singh has put his weight behind those favouring a ban on such exports. Singh also has a role to play in dealing with the vexed question of balancing the interests of the mining and steel industry with the constitutionally guaranteed rights of the communities that inhabit the mineral-rich areas. There is increasingly clamant question of compliance with laws for protecting the environment and forests, as is borne out by the debate over Chiria mines. A new mines and mineral development law is also in the offing. In this interview with Sweta Ranjan, Singh articulates his stand on illegal mining, conflicts between mining and the rights of the local community, Chiria mines, new draft law for mining, and other issues.
You have called for a complete ban on the iron ore exports. Why?
This is my personal view, which is
gradually gaining wider acceptance. Iron ore that we are currently mining and exporting will not last forever. So it makes eminent economic sense to conserve this resource to meet the future requirements of the country. If we must continue with the exports, then we should have a policy to add value to this precious natural resource. Exporting finished goods generate greater wealth for the country than raw materials. We have also been investing heavily in the steel industry. The public sector has been spending thousands of crores to renovate, modernize, and expand capacity. The private sector too is expanding very fast. At this rate, we will soon require every ounce of iron ore mined in the country for our own production of steel. We have a duty to first make this resource available to the domestic industry. Currently, even some of the public-sector enterprises like Rashtriya Ispat Nigam (RINL) and Kudremukh Iron Ore Company do not have captive mines. I dont think any steel producer in the country, except SAIL and Tata Steel, has captive mines. This creates a sort of imbalance as captive mines produce ore at a fraction of the cost at which it is sold
in the market. That, in turn, seriously affects the profitability of the companies that have to buy the ore from elsewhere. So we must first create a level playing field within our own country before we go all out for exports. Also, unless we make exports difficult, we will never be able to encourage beneficiation and pelletization of iron ore without which there is no real value addition. That might not seem like a very bright idea to the mining lobby, but I feel very strongly about it.
I understand that you have suggested to the prime minister as well as the finance minister either a complete ban on iron ore exports or at least a flat 20 per cent export duty. What has been the response to your proposal?
They are sympathetic about it; they say they are looking into it. When they find it necessary they will do it. I have already said this is not the view of the government. This is my personal view that is now gaining support.
What steps have you taken to stop illegal mining of iron ore?
Unfortunately, that does not fall under
the purview of the steel ministry. The mining act is not enforced by the steel ministry. It is primarily the state governments who are responsible for this.
they have a proprietary technology called ITMK III, which is used in making nuggets of steel.
Recently, Karnataka chief minister told the assembly that the year 2009-10 saw 71,27,937 metric tons of iron ore being illegally exported out of the state. Do you have any estimate of illegal mining and trading of iron ore in other states?
What has been the role of your ministry in clearing the regulatory hurdles in the way of steel plants planned by Arcelor Mittal and Posco in Orissa and Jharkhand?
It must be a mindboggling figure, but we have not done any calculations. Like I said, it is not really our responsibility. It is for the first time that Karnataka chief minister has come out with such figures. But everybody agrees that illegal mining is taking place in many places and that the ore thus mined is being exported. Nobody denies this, but the volume has never been quantified. Let me reiterate that the steel ministry has no role or legal authority to either grant mining leases or to enforce the mining Act.
Unfortunately, the matter has been delayed due to cumbersome rules and procedures. Most of these projects fall in tribal areas which are governed by schedule 5 of the constitution. There are some more procedures to be followed, but now things are picking up. The steel minister only acts as a facilitator so that hurdles are removed and things speed up. Having said that let me also remind you that land acquisition is primarily under the domain of state governments. The steel ministry can only use its good offices to lean on the state governments and it has been doing so. Hopefully we will find a way out.
that they should be generous with the communities who will be affected by their operations. They should compensate those communities with much more than what the law lays down. They should see to it that affected communities are properly resettled and rehabilitated, their children are educated, trained, and are able to get gainful employment. The companies should open polytechnics and training institutes for the displaced so that by the time factories come up these children are also trained and ready for employment. For the displaced to accept industrial and mining projects, they must be included in the process of growth.
You have set up a target of 120 million tons of steel production by 2012. Is that achievable?
Why do you think we are not able to stop illegal mining?
Its either plain bad governance on the part of the state governments or their complicity -- mostly the latter. Take Karnataka, for instance. You know the case of Reddy brothers. They are the strongest pillars of the present state government. If they withdraw their support, the government will collapse. In such a situation, people who have the ability to do something also have the responsibility to do it. If the state government does nothing about illegal mining, they become responsible for it. And that is not a very good state of affairs.
You have been sounding quite generous in the matter of compensating those affected by mining operations. How do we tackle the issue of compensating and rehabilitating the people affected?
It is achievable. There are many brownfield projects in the pipeline in the public sector as well as the private sector. I have not taken into consideration the green field projects of Arcelor Mittal and Posco, each one of which has proposed capacity of 10-12 million tonne. There have also been some delays, but we are hopeful of achieving the target.
The companies who have offered good compensation on their own may be able to solve their problems. I tell the companies, who want to set up new projects,
Will you be able to meet the target, if the decision on the renewal of the lease for Chiria mines in Jharkhand does not come in favour of SAIL?
India has not been able to utilize low grade iron ore fines. Do we lack the technology to use the fines? What do you plan to do to ensure that low grade ore fines are put to some economic use?
Technology exists but it is not yet freely available and fully commercialized. Korean company Posco has developed a new technology called Finex with which ore of lower iron content can be utilized in making steel. This patented technology can reduce coking coal consumption as well as costs. Our delegation went to South Korea and saw their establishment. We have been talking with them and are actively pursuing it. We have also been talking to Kobe Steel;
Nobody denies that illegal mining has been taking place and that the ore thus mined is being exported. We have not quantified the volume. The steel ministry has no role or legal authority to either grant mining leases or to enforce the mining act.
We want Chiria mines for future raw material security and for five steel plants under SAIL, which is investing thousands of crores of rupees in expansion and modernization. We are confident that the decision on Chiria mines will be in our favour. Bihar government had leased Chiria mines to IISCO which was merged with SAIL. So naturally we are the logical inheritor of those mines. That has been accepted by the Jharkhand government.
I understand that the ministry of environment and forests (MoEF) has sought to link the clearance for Gua mines in Jharkhand with the Chiria mines, so that if you get the former you may not get the latter. They say Chiria mines fall in a no-go area which is a migratory route for elephants.
I dont want to answer this. It cant be debated. There is no harm to the forest. It should be given to SAIL. Chiria mines are not a small area. They are many

MinisterSpeak
blocks of mines spread over large tracts of land. It can be scientifically mined with due regard for the environment. We will mine at one place; once done we will regenerate the place and move on to another place. There are greater chances of environmental degradation, if five companies were to operate in the same area. Giving it to a company like SAIL, which has a very good track record in looking after the mining area properly, will cause no harm to the environment. I am hopeful that the MoEF will take a rational decision. I am in touch with the PM on the subject. In the name of forests and environment, we cant compromise the development of the country.
into the alleged cartelization. Had there been an enquiry?

This is not in my knowledge.
What are your views on the new draft proposed for the mining sector, Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Act, 2010?
After an argument with the coal ministry, environment minister Jairam Ramesh was recently compelled to expand go-areas by 10 per cent. Are you also seeking expansion of go-areas for mining iron ore?
We have said that PSUs manufacturers and others should be treated as separate categories. We also want the central government to continue to exercise its role, which is not only a constitutional responsibility but the need of the hour. State governments have traditionally not shown much sagacity in this regard. Thirdly, we believe that just giving 26% equity to the displaced is both impracticable and difficult to monitor and execute.
What he is doing is also very important. Wildlife must be preserved. When I became chief minister for the first time, I had put a total ban on felling of trees and killing of animals. But there is also the question of development. They have to strike a balance between the two. We do want more go areas for our longterm requirements, but we dont want the entire thing at once.
What are you expectations from SAILs follow-on public offer (FPO) that is expected to hit the market in October or November?
We hope to raise about Rs 16,000 crore in two tranches. Half of that goes to the government and the other half goes to SAIL for its expansion and modernization.
the steel industry has no problems as such because of that. Here production has increased and demand, particularly domestic demand, is robust. As far as prices are concerned they are sometimes influenced by the global prices of steel and raw materials like iron ore and coking coal. With just about 11-12% market share between SAIL and RINL, coupled with the fact that steel was deregulated as far back as 1992, we do not have the luxury of setting prices. We can only follow the market. We have not thought of setting up a regulator. But if prices increase or decrease for no obvious reasons, then naturally we may have to take some remedial measures. I do not, however, see ourselves going back from a free market economy to the one that is regulated.
Why are you opposed to the mines ministrys proposal for 26 percent equity participation of tribals in mining activities? Do you have an alternative proposal?
Mere equity participation is not the answer. The idea is to rehabilitate successfully and gainfully. Greater details need to be worked out in this regard.
You have reportedly favoured a merger of the mining ministry with the steel ministry.
That belongs to the remit of the prime minister. Mines and steel had always been one ministry before they were separated. From the point of view of governance, a re-merger of the two ministries would allow synergies to be tapped and better coordination. That should not be misunderstood as an attempt on my part to enlarge my portfolio.
Do you have any plan to have some control over steel prices? Is there a need for a regulatory body in the steel sector?
Two years ago the then finance minister, P Chidambaram, had famously said that the steel industry had been behaving like a cartel.
How is India positioned to face the threat from Chinese steel producers?
Steel price across the world have been volatile. Many countries have not yet recovered from the economic meltdown that happened in 2008. Luckily, India did not face much of it and has grown robustly. Today,
I dont think there is cartelization because two or three big companies in the steel sector belong to the state. There is no reason for the government-owned companies to join the private sector and form a cartel.
Chidambaram had suggested then that his department would enquire
They are trying to capture the market in India by selling cheap goods, including steel. That is the challenge we have to meet. I am not against legitimate trade, but I am against dumping, which harms the domestic industry. When that happens, we move in. It is a challenge we have thus far met successfully. n
sweta@governancenow.com

Grassroots Economy
Rajan and Bhajan

One of the worlds top economists diagnoses whats wrong with Indias development story
and dispersal will be at 5 in the evening. This would go on for three days. The funding comes from Chhattisgarhs well-healed mercantile class. These miners and traders sit on chairs upholstered in starched whites. Patronising speeches follow and even to acronyms like PDS, NREGA and RTI, the vanavasis clap politely. Surendra Jain, a former state CII president, is candid that he contributes handsomely to such activities, because otherwise there will be a revolution, which I want to avoid. The state seems to have abdicated. Just a few hours ago, I had University of Chicago professor and former IMF chief economist Raghuram G Rajan speak to me on his worries regarding rising inequality and the anger among (rural) communities who have not benefitted from economic reforms. For someone who is formally an economic advisor to the PM, Rajan is surprisingly forthright on the direct link this disillusioned segment of
Rohit Bansal
Rajan spoke to me on the rising anger among (rural) communities who have not benefitted from economic reforms. Rajan is forthright on the direct link between this disillusionment and Maoism.
write this from Raipur in Chhattisgarh after a chance interface with some 1,100 forest dwellers gathered here. The organisers have them singing bhajans and chaupais from the Ramcharitmanas, and interspersing messages on cultural renaissance and social integration, besides promises that theyll soon have help in demanding corruption-free PDS and NREGA with the use of RTI. The vanavasis sit on the floor bare feet, in neat rows with hopeful eyes; women on one side, many of them in saffron saris. The men sit a few respectable feet away. Nearly every one of them is unlettered. Hot food, a precious incentive to travel 300 km, will be served sharp at 1 pm
India has with separatists and Naxalites. In the agriculture and rural areas, theres definite resentment against liberalisation. They see growth around them but theyre not experiencing it directly. t Rajan shares his alarm on the level of corruption, not just at the top but everywhere something almost ingrained and people getting away with impunity. Credited to have told the 2005 Jackson Hole conference of top central banks that the global economic system is threatened from within, Rajan doesnt fail to point towards excessive coziness between businessmen who have access to government and how they seem to be the (only) ones benefitting from this proximity. Rajan doesnt mind wealth per se. But the unfairness with which contracts are being given out, or the governments habit of favouring those guys who are already doing well, reminds him of the relationship between the oligarchs and the Russian state. There are small mercies
too. Rajan assures that these parts of the country are far, far away from descending into Mobutos Congo, but he warns that the slope is slippery. India has the people, but the jobs are not where the people are, nor are all the people necessarily capable of undertaking jobs that are being created. Many of the new jobs are in western and southern coastal states that are well connected to the big cities and global economy through rail, roads, and ports; but much of the population growth is taking place in Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh (read Chhattisgarh too) and Bihar, which have done traditionally a bad job in educating the people, especially women. They have also not created the infrastructure that connects the people to markets or that allows new entrepreneurs to flourish. Then in the poorest states, land and revenue records are poorly demarcated. A number of communities, such as tribal populations, do not have formal title to land. To add to the murkiness of land rights, even those whose names the land is registered may not have the ownership. Rajan observes that powerful interests benefit the most from the murkiness of land rights and they are the ones who vehemently oppose clarity of titles. Even those who fight for the powerless have an incentive to keep things the way they are. The government gives them a readymade cause. If communities could deal with land acquirers firmly, the political wind would be taken out of these groups sails. Clearly, thats when people like Surendra Jain would need to fund less of singing and more education and genuine employability. n
Bansal is CEO and co-founder of India Strategy Group, Hammurabi & Solomon Consulting. rohitbansal@post.harvard.edu

PlannerSpeak
INTERVIEW
Arun Maira
Planning Commission will need to refurbish its tools to foresee into a much more dynamic world, to offer change
he Planning Commission is in the process of reinventing itself. More than making five-year plans and allocating resources, it seeks to transform itself into what is being described as the Systems Reforms Commissiona strategic thinking group that will look ahead and think ahead, sense the emerging challenges and the opportunities and accordingly, devise appropriate responses for the government. Arun Maira, who has had a distinguishing career in the corporate world and headed the Boston Consulting Group until 2008, has been entrusted with this task. A Planning Commission member since July 2009, Maira shares his vision with Prasanna Mohanty. Edited excerpts from the interview:
Why does the Planning Commission need a revamp?
From time to time you should look at an institution. The Planning Commission had a new set of members, a new commission, and so they said Why dont we reflect on what would be required to make the Planning Commission more effective in the current environment?
Well, the environment has changed so much in the country and the world. Sixty years ago the country was more centrally managed. Now there is much more devolution of power to the states and further devolution within the states. Also, the private sector has a much larger role in the country. In all large entities, whether a corporation or a country, we need to foresee what may happen and make changes within to respond to that. Previously, you could make many more things happen by the money you put in. Now it is not only the money that the central government puts in but also what the private sector and the states do. Making things happen has changed, the need to have foresight hasnt. In fact, it has increased. The world has become much more dynamic because of interconnection, globalisation and speed. The Planning Commission would need to refurbish its tools, its processes to be able to foresee into a much more dynamic world, offer change and also change its ability to communicate with people.
reason you felt the plan panel wasnt responding to the current environment?
Any particular drawback or
The Planning Commission is often criticised for not monitoring
Ravi Choudha ry
its projects that could have helped in fine-tuning, removing bottlenecks.
Many people ask the Planning Commission, Why dont you understand the details of whats happening on the ground. I say, routinely, no. Because that is the job of the state. And going further, if you have given it to a local body beneath the state level, then the local body should be doing it. Then you are empowering people and making them responsible.
People put up things and dont care about it afterwards whether it is a road, a building or any electrical facility.
You are believed to have worked out a revamp plan for the Planning Commission.
It has also been pointed out that there is a disconnect between the plan and non-plan parts of the government expenditure.
In a corporation, the capital budget is one thing and is separate, and the revenue budget is different. There is a reason for it. The capital side of things will produce returns over a longer period of time. You need to raise lumpy money allocated against a lumpy project. The revenue side is: people are paying you for your products and services and what you spend on salaries and to deliver products and services. This is good management actually. In other words, what we have is good management. Therefore, I think when people criticise they dont apply themselves.
That comes from the Finance Commissions.
You can intellectually say that. I am talking from the point of management. In terms of separating two things, I see no problem. However, if people are not maintaining assets in this country properly because they say I dont have money, then the Finance Commission says that the Planning Commission must foresee and provide for it. What it means is you have to pass on more money from the revenue accounts to the Planning Commission for revenue purposes because maintenance is a revenue activity. This becomes a problem The problem arises because there is no maintenance culture in this country.
We consulted with the stakeholders outside the Planning Commission to ask them what it should do more effectively. In that regard we came to know that weve got to be able to persuade a system that we dont control directly because we dont fund everything in the system to make things happen. Number one, we should have the foresight, the ability to see further ahead on behalf of the whole system, like navigators with a radar; and then pass on the signals to the pilots, who are the executive. To do that we would work with people outside even those outside India who are in various fields, watching trends and giving signals about the changes that are under way. Working with them one can put a composite picture about what the world may look like. What one is sensing is then converted into a scenario and made available to the pilots so that they can take appropriate action. Number two, as we begin to see opportunities and the new challenges emerging water crisis or unemployment, for example we can prepare conditions so that there is no crisis. Three or four such big challenges can be located beforehand and then a variety of people can work together to see how to address those challenges. Thats what the white papers are all aboutgive out thoughts and ideas that people can then use to take action accordingly. Now, weve got to persuade a variety of people about the scenario in the language that they understand so that they are able to take appropriate action. So these are the three critical functions that the Planning Commission should perform

PlannerSpeak
It is the Planning Commissions idea to have the PPP. It is part of the systems reforms. The Planning Commission has been saying: Look, we need much more money to make things happen. We are also in a situation that we need the private sector to have a larger role. Thats the Planning Commissions advocacy.
effectively.
Will the Planning Commission then resemble the National Advisory Council or you see it differently?
I see it differently. In case of the NAC, it doesnt have the wherewithal of the Planning Commission. It is a specialised agency looking into the social side and is going deeper. Similarly, there are other people working on the security side. Thats also a supplement. So, there are specialised agencies looking into their areas of specialties. The one place where all such things are collated is the Planning Commission.
Will the plan panel continue to make five-year plans or allocate money after the revamp?
That will go on. What the Planning Commission does adequately will go on. We are talking about the additionalities, the changes. What the Planning Commission needs to do differently are the three functions I mentioned.
to happen. They should get influenced by this and do things they then feel like doing. We cant insist that they do what is indicated in the plan. If we put up a plan it doesnt mean automatically everything in the plan is in an executive form. You say it, then devise a scheme, you sell the scheme, you allocate money for it and so it goes on. For example, you come to an item, JNNURM, which is included in the plan in one way, but then it is developed and debated with the states and if then, at the NDC, they say that this item for which the money will be allocated centrally is okay, that is enough. They are endorsing as much they should be, at the time. They cant endorse it anymore because details would be worked out through another process, again in consultation.
What is the Planning Commissions role then?
It is to induce change in the systemthe three things I mentioned. When the prime minister used the term systems reforms commission, it is not a budgeting commission any more. Thats the contrast. Many people see it is a budgeting commission. No, no, we are the Systems Reforms Commission which induces change in the system such that good things and right things happen. And one of the big changes in the system that has to happen is much more local empowerment and then creation of conditions around the local bodies so that they can function and be effective.
Accountability of the Planning Commission has always been an issue. It is said the National Development Council approves its plan without any critical analysis.
But it is also about giving power to the local bodies, which have become just implementing agencies even though they have the power to plan for themselves.
Now most of the investments are coming from the private sector or in the form of PPP. What kind of adjustments the Planning Commission needs to make?
We are in a much more open system, a system in which there are many semi-independent or independent agencies like the states which take their own action and dont report to each other or to the centre. Nor can they be asked to do things differently. So when you talk of approving a plan, by their listening to it (at the NDC) the function is served. As I said, our idea in the Planning Commission has to be to inform these people; the good things to do and the changes that are going
But that is what the Planning Commission is saying now for the PESA [Panchayats (Extension to the Scheduled Areas) Act] or the 73rd and 74th amendments which require that the local bodies make their plans. That is the right way to do things. In a vast and diverse country, the only way you can get a sensible plan is when people make local plans. You cant, sitting in the centre, know what is good for all the different parts. And once the local plan is made, the local bodies are made accountable for its implementation. But thats not happening. People are not allowed to make their plan.
It is the Planning Commissions idea to have the PPP. It is part of the systems reforms. The Planning Commission has been saying: Look, we need much more money to make things happen. We are also in such a situation that we need the private sector to have a larger role. Thats the Planning Commissions advocacy.
Does it limit the Planning Commissions budgeting function?
Of course, and we should. I would be very happy if the Planning Commission didnt have to give money. If the country was working, money was being raised by the states and the private sector and they were spending and the good things were happening in the country, it is perfect! n
prasanna@governancenow.com

Power Buzz
Delhi Diary
Regulator caught redhanded on video?

o we have yet another big-ticket scam round the corner? The head of a regulator body has been caught accepting a huge amount of bribe, apparently running into crore, according to sources. Those in the know say the transaction took place in a guesthouse near Connaught Place in Delhi though the regulator in question sits in Mumbai. The transaction was captured on video on a mobile phone by a third person, and the clip reached a security agency. The chief of that security agency then quietly briefed the government about this top secret input. Now the agency is taking all precaution that this clip does not start circulating not when the parliament session is on.
Manis vow of silence

ani Shankar Aiyar and quotable quotes cannot live apart for long but he has now announced that he has taken a vow of silence at least as far as the Commonwealth Games are concerned. He pretends to have gone in the silent mode on his own, but the move apparently comes after he was pulled up by the Congress leadership for comments like this: Personally, I will be unhappy if the Commonwealth Games are successful.
Meira faces Yadav troika

Lok Sabha speaker Meira Kumar has been finding it difficult to restrain the three irrepressible Yadavs, Sharad, Mulayam and Lalu, from raising their hands all the time during Question Hour something that leaves back-benchers fuming.
And a 3G female troika
Sonia visits ailing mother
yebrows were raised during the first week of the monsoon session as Congress president Sonia Gandhi was absent from the house. Mystery deepened as her son, Rahul Gandhi, too was missing. Then it transpired that they had left for the US, to spend time with her ailing mother Paola Maino. Sonias father is no more and her mother used to spend a great deal of time in India, visiting and staying with her daughter. However, sources say, she has not been in India for quite some time now. The Congress president has two sisters, one is married to a Spanish diplomat and the other used to run a boutique in their hometown in Italy. Sonia makes few visits to her hometown, preferring to remain in India and receiving relatives at her residence, according to those in the know.
Supriya Sule (NCP) and Harsimrat Kaur Badal (Akali Dal) are always seen together in the Lok Sabha. And outside the house, they have a constant companion in Kanimozhi (DMK), daughter of M Karunandhi. AIADMK MPs now call them 3G spectrum.
iPad MP
Whos the Amar Singh of Kashmir?

s the Kashmir crisis intensifies, the criticism of J&K chief minister Omar Abdullah seems to be degrading into a hate campaign, especially on social networking websites. Having been called several unprintable names in the last few months, he has now been dubbed the Amar Singh of Kashmir on one of the sites. The comparison with one of the most prominent wheeler-dealers
MPs are catching up with the changing times. Jyoti Mirdha, granddaughter of late Nathuram Mirdha and a Congress MP from Rajasthan, makes heads turn as she sits in the Central Hall, reading books or research papers on her iPad. Not to be left behind, many first-time MPs plan to ask parliament authorities to give them the same in place of the MTNL 3G phone sets they have been given.
of Indian politics perhaps alludes to Abdullahs all-toofrequent visits to Delhi to engage in consultations with the central government of which his father is a minister. Its a dalal (broker) family. He has sold Kashmir to India, says one Kashmiri on his Facebook page. Down with Omar Abdullah, the page of which this young man is a member, has 465 members and most are in their early twenties.
Escaped unhurt
Sharad Yadav had a miraculous escape in a helicopter mishap in Bihar in early August. When he returned to the Lok Sabha, well-wishers walked up to his seat to greet him. The first was Lalu Prasad, followed by central ministers Pawan Kumar Bansal, Ghulam Nabi Azad, Farooq Abdullah and the leader of the opposition, Sushma Swaraj.

Governance of Culture
Museums of misgovernance
Several of our apex cultural institutions are headless, several priceless collections sealed off. Anguished at bureaucratic apathy and negligence, a group of eminent archaeologists write to the prime minister who is also in charge of the culture ministry
Ravi choudhary
To the prime minister: July 28, 2010 Respected sir, I wish to bring to your notice a news item, Ahead of Games, National Museum lies in neglect (The Times of India, July 14), as the ministry of culture is directly under your charge. I am also taking this opportunity to bring to your attention some very important facts and issues regarding the National Museum, New Delhi, and some other museums of national importance, which I may not be wrong in assuming, are not brought to your notice or placed before you, under cover of flimsy excuses. The above news item is only the tip of the iceberg. Cultural governance in the country has reached an all-time low and to call it deplorable may not be an exaggeration. The following instances call for urgent consideration and immediate action.
National Museum, New Delhi
It is 50 years that the National Museum was housed in its present premises. During this half century more than half of Delhi has been renovated and expanded, but the building of this apex cultural institution showcasing the windows of our rich heritage is yet to be fully constructed. Why? Is the government of India so much short of funds or have those in authority become bankrupt in thought and action? Besides this aspect, let me pen down some very specific and glaring instances of total apathy and indifference as far as the governance of this premier cultural institution of the country is concerned. The items in the museum collection are more than 2,00,000, both of Indian and foreign origin, covering almost all aspects of art, archaeology, sculpture, painting, numismatics, jewellery, textiles, decorative arts and anthropological objects. This museum has been without a professional director-general for many years now. Many senior curatorial positions are also lying vacant due to the indifferent attitude of the ministry of culture. In this regard, I would like to cite some instances here. (a) The deputy keeper of the pre-history department, who held the charge of the rare and unique collections from Mohenjodaro, Harappa and other Indus Valley sites discovered in India after the independence, was granted deputation in 2005 without handing over the charge of the collection. No one is to take care of this gallery and the reserve collection is lying sealed depriving scholars and students from their research activities. (b) Rita Sharma, who was the keeper of numismatics and jewellery section, and also in charge of the museum vault containing all the valuables, died under mysterious circumstances and her
body was found on the rail tracks between Agra and Mathura. Even two years after her demise, the vault has remained sealed. The authorities are indifferent to take any positive steps so that the objects in the vault could be physically verified and taken over by a competent/responsible curator. (c) Daljeet Kaur, keeper (paintings) who superannuated a few months back, has been relieved without handing over the charge of paintings including rare and precious miniatures. And who knows the fate of these paintings when the entire collection is under seal since then? How could a person be allowed to superannuate and receive her retirement benefits without handing over
who knows authoritatively about this collection, mostly collected by Sir Auriel Stein. Honble prime minister, sir, all these posts lying vacant are sanctioned posts with a budget allocated for the same. Why are no steps being taken to appoint qualified professionals in the vacant positions in the countrys apex cultural institution? Salarjung Museum, Hyderabad This museum is also a victim of cold apathy on the part of bureaucracy. It has been without a head for quite some time. Allahabad Museum The government of India took over this museum with great fanfare and upgraded it as a central museum only to become a non-priority department of the government. There is no director since long. Files for sanction of leave and issue of petty orders are sent to the governor of Uttar Pradesh. This is the state of delivery in 21st century when governance through information technology is the call of the day. Museum of Man, Bhopal Yet another institution without a director. Indian Museum, Kolkata This museum is a glaring instance of indifference, particularly in the context of its bicentenary celebrations to be held in 2014 for which several crores of rupees have been earmarked. Its director has also been given the charge of the Anthropological Survey of India, as if there was no work to be done in the Indian Museum. Special posts created for the bicentenary celebrations have not been filled up. A committee has been created for this purpose with persons who have no practical knowledge of museum and museology. And so far nothing tangible has been done in the context of the bicentenary. Kolkata can boast of more than half a dozen former museum directors/director-generals. None of them are on the committee to assist and accelerate the process of development and expansion. Anthropological Survey of India, Kolkata Another example of apathy as if there is no anthropologist in the country to head this age-old organisation as its director. Nehru Memorial Museum and Library, New Delhi It may not be out of place to bring to your kind notice the article, Best place to study (mis)governance: Nehru Memorial (Governance Now, July 1-15). The cultural scenario in the country is totally bleak, apparently unmanageable. Cultural institutions are objects of cold storage, victims of apathy and negligence. Sir, nothing less than a jolt can redeem the situation. Let a beginning be made from the National Museum as the Commonwealth Games are knocking at the door, and from the Indian Museum, Kolkata, as the bicentenary is to take place in 2014. Your sincerely, K N Dikshit General secretary, Indian Archaeological Society Dikshit is a retired joint director-general of the Archaeological Survey of India. For more on Indian Archaeological Society, see www.indarchaeology.org
Governance Now reported details of lapses in the performance of the Nehru Memorial.
the charge? Who will be responsible for any missing or damaged paintings whenever the collection is reopened? (d) The MSS (manuscript) section has remained closed for over five years, since its last keeper, Naseem Akhtar, superannuated. Has any of the directors ever inspected the state of preservation of this famous collection of priceless manuscripts and calligraphy during this period? (e) The Central Asian Antiquities section has remained one of the most neglected sections ever since the collection was handed over to the museum by the Archaeological Survey of India. Once headed by reputed scholars, there is no appointment of a keeper

Parting Shot
It just Occured to us
Illust ration: ashis h ast h a n a
Want to know what I think of Suresh Kalmadi? Come to my press conference on May 24, 2014!

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special issue: state of bihar report

August 16-31, 2010 | Vol. 01 Issue 14 | ` 30

Bihars escape from the criminality

Suresh Menon on the charade that is the Commonwealth Games

38 Interview with steel minister Virbhadra Singh

42 Interview with plan panel member Arun Maira

08 How writ of state was reestablished

Shame before the Game

The man in the muddle

GovernanceNow | August 16-31, 2010

New, improved secularism?

Judicial cess can strike at the root of corruption

Will CBI be able to nail Amit Shah?

No compromise with truth

Adding a new dimension

6 GovernanceNow | August 16-31, 2010

Because Bihar deserves better

people politics policy performance

Small steps, big change:

photo imaging: ashish asthana

people politics policy performance

Governance in Bihar: Down history lane

10 GovernanceNow | August 16-31, 2010

Recent history: More misgovernace

two organs of state

a severe Blow to judicial process

Sushil Bareriya, manager, LIC

Pappu Singh, assistant at a car showroom

Earlier people were

What Nitish Kumar has changed

Business class in Patna

The market in Patna

Collection of rangdari tax

12 GovernanceNow | August 16-31, 2010

people politics policy performance

Bihar: A lot left to do

41.4% 47% 10%

Second highest poverty rate after Orissa.

The lowest in the country.

Bihar is the least urbanised state in India.

Expenditure on health is less than 1% of GDP.

people politics policy performance

Barah baje tak late nahin, 3 baje ke baad bhent nahin

14 GovernanceNow | August 16-31, 2010

people politics policy performance

Bihars escape from criminality

16 GovernanceNow | August 16-31, 2010

Mrigank, Vodafone executive, Patna

Pranav Pandey, MTS executive, Sitamarhi

Vikash Kumar, UNINOR executive, Nawada

the telecom guys Patna

Gautam Singh, Vodafone executive, Patna

Amit Sinha, Vodafone executive, Patna

Siddartha, Vodfone executive, Muzaffarpur

Look at the crowd at

You would not

people politics policy performance

Why I returned to Bihar

This mothers nightmares are over

20 GovernanceNow | August 16-31, 2010

photos: Ravi Choudha ry

people politics policy performance

ent and discontent