Bihar economy in dire straits: Report
Subodh Ghildiyal
[ Friday, November 25, 2005 01:33:26 am, TIMES NEWS
NETWORK ]


NEW DELHI: Bihar's fiscal position turned alarmingly
weak while its performance was poor in road and
education sector.

The findings form part of the annual plan review of
2004-05 where the state failed to meet targets of
expenditure and works. The fiscal situation is weak to
such an extent that it is impossible for it to raise
loans from the market.

That has put its share of Accelerated Irrigation
Benefit Programme (AIBP) in the risk of
non-implementation. Bihar has sought to be exempted
from the revised guidelines of AIBP which say that
states should raise loans through market borrowings.

Bihar has requestedto be treated as a special case and
that the Centre continue with the previous norms of
giving 70% loan component, at least for schemes
included in AIBP or planned to be put under it.
The review concurs with the state's view as it was a
fiscally weak state and Centre's endeavour was bound
to fail which will hit the progress of the projects
under AIBP.

Pradhan Mantri Gramin Sadak Yojna (PMGSY) works fell
behind for many amusing reasons and their
implementation, done through the state agencies, had
to be taken over by the Centre.

The reason was that there was a shortage of engineers
at the levels of junior engineer, superintending
engineer, chief engineer and engineer-in-chief in
rural development.

Also, there was a lack od of qualified eligible
contractors who had a financial capacity of over Rs 1
crore and could execute work in 6 to 9 months.
Also lacking in contractors was technical competence
and experience. Due to slow progress on Phase I and
II, the work on Phase III and IV is now being done by
ministry of rural development through NBCC, NPCC,
CPWD, NHPC/IRCON. Seventeen packages of Phase I and IV
which include 63 roads costing Rs 26 crore have been
given to MRD.

Educationally, the state has abysmally low literacy
figures. It has the most number of districts — 14 —
with female literacy rate between 20% and 30%. The
state has the lowest female literacy rate in the
country at 33.57%.

The performance under the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan too
was lax with the state not supplying textbooks
regularly and completing only 14 of the sanctioned
schools out of 2469.
It, however, crossed the target under edcuation
guarantee schemecomponent of SSA. Bihar could use only
29% of the money under National Food for Work
programme launched in November 2004.

While the February elections were a reason for not
taking up new works after notification, officials do
not agree with the reasoning for such a low
consumption of money.

The state created 54.96 lakh mandays in the 15
districts under the NFWP. Only Rs 77.78 crore of total
available Rs 264.12 crore was spent.

Sources in the government said that six of the 15
districts could not spend 60% of the funds which made
them ineligible for receiving first instalment of the
next year.




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Nitish Kumar, do thank Sonia
T V R Shenoy
Rediff.com
November 25, 2005



When in doubt, go with your gut instincts.

The Congress ignored that wisdom at its own peril in Bihar, and just
look at the results. The decline in the party -- which had an absolute
majority in the Bihar Vidhan Sabha as late as January 1990 -- becomes
painfully clear when you compare it to the Bharatiya Janata Party. The
BJP now has 55 seats in the Vidhan Sabha, while the Congress couldn't
put up candidates in more than 55 constituencies.

And, I won't embarrass the party by citing the number it actually won,
unable even to make it to a two-digit figure.

The story of the downfall was written almost one year ago.

Knowing that elections to the Bihar assembly were in the air, the
party discussed a report on the state. The conclusion was absolutely
unambiguous: Bihar contains more anti-Lalu Prasad Yadav than pro-Lalu
Prasad Yadav voters. If the electoral battle were conducted on
polarised lines, the Rashtriya Janata Dal stood a snowball's chance in
hell of returning to power. The same fate would meet any party stupid
enough to be seen as his ally.

The Congress's problem was that it could not afford to spurn Lalu
openly. He has 24 members in the Lok Sabha. If that were added to the
Left Front and the Samajwadi Party, the Congress would be at their
mercy.

To avoid an open break while simultaneously building up its own
shattered base in Bihar, the Congress hit upon using Ram Vilas Paswan.
It was a simple arrangement: Paswan would fight the RJD everywhere but
not oppose the Congress anywhere.

With Lalu officially committed to supporting the Congress, it seemed
to be a win-win situation. Lalu would be cut to size, without the
National Democratic Alliance coming to power in Patna.

The result belied all the Congress' calculations. Lalu slumped, but
the Congress was so closely identified with him that it went down with
the RJD. The NDA, which should have been wiped out going by the Lok
Sabha polls held nine months earlier, increased its strength. The
saving grace was Ram Vilas Paswan, whose 29 MLAs seemingly tipped the
balance against the NDA.

Paswan, however, was in a fix. He wasn't the master of a party, but
the temporary chief of men who had only one thing in common -- that
they were all against Lalu. Many of them were Bhumihars, a caste
irrevocably opposed to Lalu.

The rest is history.

Lalu pressed for President's rule, both to humiliate Paswan and to
prevent Nitish Kumar from forming a ministry in Patna. With the Left
Front behind Lalu, the Congress had no option but to go along. This
had the unintended effect of tying the Congress even closer to the RJD
in the minds of a Bihar electorate that was irrevocably opposed to the
RJD boss and his family.

That does not, however, solve the Congress's real problem, which is to
revive the party in states where it is moribund.

Uttar Pradesh is the country's largest state by far; the Congress is
irrelevant there. Maharashtra is India's second-largest state; the
Congress chief minister, Vilasrao Deshmukh, lives at Sharad Pawar's
mercy. West Bengal and Andhra Pradesh each send 42 MPs to the Lok
Sabha; the Congress has been out of power in the first since 1977, and
has just returned to power in the second after a decade in the
wilderness. Tamil Nadu, with its 39 Lok Sabha seats, has not had a
Congress chief minister since 1967. The BJP holds Rajasthan and Madhya
Pradesh, and a Biju Janata Dal-BJP coalition is into its second term
in Orissa. Karnataka has a Congress chief minister, but his plight is
even worse than his Maharashtra colleague, thanks to H D Deve Gowda.

And, the Congress is all set to lose Kerala in 2006.

West Bengal can go the Bihar way if polls are free: BJP

Take a look at the map of India. Point out all those states that elect
at least 20 MPs to the Lok Sabha. In how many of those states is the
Congress in a position to form a government on its own?

Sonia Gandhi's response to that question was to seek out allies. But
the Congress has yet to learn the first lesson of coalitions: that you
cannot gain strength by weakening your allies. The Congress tried to
be too clever by half, trying to regain lost ground by weakening Lalu.

In doing so, it convinced the anti-Lalu forces that salvation could
come only through the NDA.

Today, the Congress has the worst of all worlds. It is stuck with
allies it can neither spurn nor embrace. And in trying to build up its
own strength by weakening allies, it has handed Bihar over to Nitish
Kumar.

The new chief minister's residence will undoubtedly be flooded with
bouquets. Shouldn't he send some of them to the woman who made it all
possible, Sonia Gandhi?

Behind Nitish Kumar's triumph
Editoria, The Hindu, 26th Nov. 2005

From Chief-Minister-in-waiting to Chief Minister, it has been a long
roller-coaster ride of despair and hope for Nitish Kumar, once bosom
pal and now arch rival of the strongman of Bihar, Lalu Prasad. The
Nitish-Lalu pair burst on to the political scene together. One became
a Chief Minister, a real political character; the other missed his
chance once too often. Coming from backward caste origins, both spoke
the language of Mandal. But they were strikingly different: one loud,
charismatic, and proudly rustic, and the other soft-spoken,
uncharismatic, and consciously understated. Over the next decade and
more, Mr. Prasad emerged as India's most enduring symbol of secularism
and social justice. At a superficial level, Laluspeak was the engaging
banter that, by turns, fascinated and exasperated the world. But to
Mr. Prasad's loyal constituency, this was the political idiom of a
new, awakened era. So overpowering was the Lalu phenomenon that a
falling out of friends became inevitable. Unable to strike out on his
own and dogged by an identity crisis, Mr. Kumar chose to hitch his
wagon to the Bharatiya Janata Party. This was a watershed in Indian
politics: it marked the beginning of the legitimisation of Hindutva
and the BJP brand of sectarian politics. The discomfort was evident in
the early years, and indeed Mr. Kumar would describe the alliance as a
marriage of convenience. But the bond proved viable and productive.
Mr. Kumar's Samata Party mutated, evolved, and finally merged with the
Janata Dal(United).

The Nitish-BJP alliance frequently came under strain. Pundits
speculated a reunion between Mr. Prasad and Mr. Kumar. Yet Mr. Kumar
stayed with the BJP — through the many Ayodhya programmes and the
anti-Muslim Gujarat pogrom. While party colleague George Fernandes
thought nothing of defending the indefensible, Mr. Kumar rarely struck
a politically incorrect note. He threatened the BJP when Hindutva
reared its head; he defended Lal Krishna Advani on the
Jinnah-appreciation issue that earned him the wrath of the Rashtriya
Swayamsevak Sangh; he even took care to appear Muslim-friendly. Thanks
to this adroit tightrope walk plus a lot of hard work on the ground,
Mr. Kumar succeeded in shifting the focus of the discourse from
Hindutva to development. The strategy paid off: the emphasis on
development blurred the dividing line between the pro- and anti-Lalu
forces. For far too long, Mr. Prasad spoke of social justice without
bridging the gap between word and deed. He would tell his people he
had given them swar (voice) and one day he would give them swarg
(heaven). The wait proved unending. Mr. Kumar snatched his victory
from a regime that, in the public perception, came to symbolise
anarchy and was anti-development. As the new Chief Minister savours
his triumph, he will surely be conscious of the looming presence of a
BJP increasingly driven by the RSS. The party has already had its way
on the appointment of a Deputy Chief Minister.

The Hindu
23 Nov.2005
Bihar joins the national mainstream

Harish Khare

Lalu Prasad refused to understand that Bihar could not
remain a stranger to the larger process of growth and
development that characterises much of the rest of
India.

UTTAR PRADESH went to the polls in March 2002. The
Bharatiya Janata Party was in power in Lucknow and New
Delhi. The country had been whipped into a frenzy,
especially after the December 13, 2001, terrorist
attack on Parliament House. L.K. Advani was playing
sheriff in New Delhi. In Lucknow, the incumbent Chief
Minister, Rajnath Singh, had banned the Muslim outfit,
SIMI, and was threatening to put in place a POTA-like
law if voted back to power. On the other hand,
Harkishan Singh Surjeet and Vishwanath Pratap Singh
were predicting that the National Democratic Alliance
regime in New Delhi would collapse after the BJP got
routed in Lucknow. Both believed Mulayam Singh Yadav
was the ideal instrument to lead the secular offensive
against the Bharatiya Janata Party.

In the event, the BJP lost but that was about it.
After a few months of President's Rule, the BJP joined
hands with the Bahujan Samaj Party and installed
Mayawati as Chief Minister in Lucknow whereas Atal
Bihari Vajpayee went on to complete his term at the
Centre.

This little bit of recent history is recalled in the
context of the Bihar election outcome. Just as a BJP
defeat in Uttar Pradesh had no bearing on the last Lok
Sabha, the Rashtriya Janata Dal-Congress-CPI(M)
combine's debacle cannot possibly have any
ramifications for the United Progressive Alliance
Government at the Centre. Just as the 2002 U.P. defeat
lent a degree of coherence to the Vajpayee Government,
the 2005 Bihar defeat can only have a salutary effect
on the UPA partners and friends who have of late
developed rather complacent mind-sets. In any case,
the Bihar verdict is not a licence for the NDA to
instigate disruption in the polity.

Is there anything in the latest Bihar vote that can be
construed as distracting from the raison d'etre of the
UPA at the Centre? Nothing, indeed. The vote is not at
all an endorsement of the BJP's brand of aggressive
Hindutva. It should be kept in mind that in Bihar the
BJP is not a senior partner in the alliance with the
Janata Dal (United). The BJP did not show its Hindutva
colours at any time; and, Nitish Kumar, the Chief
Minister-apparent, had been careful to distance
himself from any BJP-instigated suggestion of any kind
of calculated hostility to the minorities. If
anything, in recent months the JD(U) has not been
averse to being seen to be in agreement with the UPA
plank of some kind of affirmative action in favour of
the minorities. Whether the Bihar verdict provides Mr.
Advani any elbowroom to linger on for a few more
months as BJP president is between him and the
Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh bosses. But there is
little comfort in the Bihar vote for the BJP
ideologues.

Is Lalu Prasad's rout a defeat of the secular platform
at the Centre? On the face of it, the vote is a
setback only because the Congress and the Communist
Party of India (Marxist) had chosen to justify their
alliance with the Rashtriya Janata Dal in terms of
secular consolidation. On the other hand, Ram Vilas
Paswan's single-point chant of "Muslim Chief Minister"
denied Mr. Prasad the luxury of painting himself in
secular colours. The secular "card" worked in the 2004
Lok Sabha election because the BJP/RSS/VHP combine
loomed large; by the time the Bihar electorate was
asked to vote a second time in 2005 for the Assembly,
the Hindutva threat was a distant memory. In this
round of electioneering, the RJD itself did not raise
the secular war cry. Mr. Nitish Kumar's decisive
victory will not allow the RJD/UPA leaders to point
accusing fingers at the Election Commission. A narrow
margin would have invited attention to the
Commission's bias. The nature of Mr. Nitish Kumar's
victory should put an end to all arguments as to whose
cause Mr. Paswan helped most and hurt most. Bihar was
ready for a change.

Mr. Prasad got entangled in a politics of preserving a
narrow caste support base, which had nothing to do
with the secular versus communal divide not to speak
of the larger issues of the rulers' obligation to be
sensitive to citizens' needs. He wallowed in a
partisan politics of an extremely self-serving kind,
craftily invoking caste antagonisms to his electoral
advantage. He stumbled upon the winning formula of
combining Yadav consolidation with Muslim insecurity.
Admittedly, Mr. Prasad did not invent caste or the
political usefulness of the caste appeal in Bihar; he
was merely carrying on the traditions and habits
established by the Sri Babus and the K.B. Sahays in
the 1950s and the 1960s. Like the Bhumihars, the
Brahmins, and the Kayasthas, he too finessed the art
of producing legislative majorities based on limited
caste appeals. His politics was relevant to the Bihar
of the 1990s. But he forgot that Bihar was part of a
changing India.

Obviously, Mr. Prasad refused to understand that Bihar
could not remain a stranger to the larger process of
growth and development that characterises much of the
rest of India. Though a considerable section of the
Bihar population opted to migrate out to other parts
of India in search of security and stability, the
majority (most of them poor) had to stay put, most of
the time on Mr. Prasad's terms. But those who stayed
back were not oblivious to the change and growth in
the rest of the country. In these times of
ever-increasing connectivity, the Bihar voter was in a
position to have a fairly good idea of how growth,
development, and governance were changing people's
ambitions and aspirations. This voter could not remain
content with what Mr. Prasad had to offer. What began
in 1990 as a refreshing promise of genuine social
change degenerated in 15 years into crony rule. Nobody
in Bihar was amused when Prime Minister Manmohan Singh
chose to bestow the "Vikas Purush" salutation on Mr.
Prasad.

One lesson emerges. No political leader or party can
ignore the obligation to undertake some basic tasks of
governance. A strong, well-oiled party machine helps
electoral mobilisation; an emotional pitch may work
magic temporarily; but the business of democratic
politics has to centre around governance and delivery.
Democratic politics, especially if it insists on
seeking its very legitimacy from the welfare of the
masses, cannot sustain for long a leadership style
that thrives on contempt for the masses and their
minimum needs. In a way Mr. Prasad should be grateful
to the voters for their rebuff; otherwise he and his
cronies would have remained untutored in this basic
obligation.

Task for Nitish


No one knows whether Mr. Nitish Kumar himself would be
able to answer the crux of the Bihar voter's desire
for change. Bihar was always a much divided society
and politicians of all varieties have deepened those
divisions. And these divisions are now sorted out by
private armies. The only course open to Mr. Nitish
Kumar is to summon a higher raj dharma, instead of
getting sucked into numerous demands and intractable
claims of past grievances and vendettas. This would be
a very exacting task, especially because his rivals
and enemies can be relied upon to provoke violence and
animosities. The eruption recently in Jehanabad was a
reminder, if a reminder was indeed needed, that
Patna's writ does not run in large chunks of Bihar.
The benighted State needs a new idiom of argumentation
and a new political culture.

Does the Bihar vote mean the politics of social
justice has run its course in the country? Can, for
example, Mr. Mulayam Singh or Ms. Mayawati persist
with their preference for the caste idiom? This appeal
of caste-based regional parties will continue to find
favour with the voter as long as the national
political parties do not find the leadership and the
vision to tap all-India passions and aspirations. But
it is becoming increasingly clear also that a
family-based political outfit can no longer
appropriate the promise of the politics of social
justice. The voter will reject all those leaders,
political parties and outfits that refuse to observe
democratic decencies and remain indifferent to the
ruler's fundamental obligation to govern, fairly,
firmly and equitably. It would be an outright
absurdity if the NDA crowd or the third-front hopefuls
chose to interpret the Bihar vote as a mandate to
destabilise the Centre. The country is in a
business-like mood and does not want to favour
manipulators at the expense of administrators.
***

Goa village bans Biharis following rift

The Hindu Newsupdate, 2nd November 2005

Residents from Honda, a village in north Goa with 10,000 population, unanimously adopted a resolution disallowing any Bihar native to stay or work here, said Honda village sarpanch Pandurang Gaonkar.

The village houses Honda Industries Estate, an industrial hub comprising steel rolling mills and automobile units.

"Under presure from locals, the Panchayat Gramsabha had to resolve the issue and ban Biharis," he told PTI.

Though the resolution has "no constitutional standing", it will be adhered to by local panchayat bowing to pressures from villagers, he added.

The rift between Goans and Biharis began last fortnight when two Bihari youths were allegedly assaulted by a group of locals for eve-teasing.

The village got tensed when police complaint was registered and police arrived to arrest local youths.

Villagers gathered outside Honda police outposet and prevented police from arresting locals. Even the outpost was stoned, prompting police to summon extra force, police said.

"We are aware of the situation and have started preparing a list of Biharis and other tanents residing in the village," said Superintendent of Police (north) D K Sawant.

Besides Biharis, the village has natives of Kerala, Orissa and Rajasthan, whose presence has been not objected to by the locals.

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The Supreme Court ruling on the Bihar assembly dissolution is of such momentous import as to lay the foundation for an Indian revolution. Revolution does not mean of course extolling Mao and killing small landlords or ill-paid policemen in remote villages. Nor does revolution mean dreaming of a Hindu-dominated world while killing defenceless Muslims. India's revolution will come when laws are not broken but observed. When the State does not unleash violence but curbs it. When our Constitution is not flouted but respected. And when by bringing in such changes, the corrupt, callow and cruel elite that rules us is either reformed beyond recognition or removed from power. The recent Supreme Court judgment gives promise of precisely such a revolution. The Constitution has at last tripped the liars and deceivers who for half a century habitually distorted it.

Initial reaction
The initial reactions of opposition leaders and media pundits to the Supreme Court judgment were pathetic. Mr George Fernandes sought a court case against Governor Buta Singh. Mr LK Advani by some esoteric logic considered home minister Shivraj Patil singularly responsible for the dissolution. Doubtless Mr Patil was flattered by being vested with such heavy responsibility. Mr Vajpayee's customary wisdom punctuated by pregnant pauses was replaced by a barren silence.
Only belatedly did NDA leaders make muffled demands for the PM's resignation. But most critics focused on Mr Buta Singh. As a Dalit not famed for probity and with sons Lovely and Sweetie flanking him, he makes a comfortable target to flay. He is quite unlike Prime Minister Manmohan Singh who has impeccable Oxford credentials. Dr Singh thought nothing of accepting appointment as Prime Minister by the Dynasty's current incumbent instead of insisting on a prior electoral endorsement by the Congress parliamentary party.
But then he was the same gentleman who thought nothing of making a false affidavit claiming he was a permanent resident of Assam in order to get elected to the Rajya Sabha, wasn't he? When icons of middle class morality expose their hypocrisy it's our tradition to look the other way.
Media pundits and legal luminaries all solemnly affirm that the President can return an advice by the cabinet for reconsideration. But if it comes back to him after reconsideration he must act by it. They never clarify whether the President should honour his oath to preserve and protect the Constitution if offered unconstitutional advice by the cabinet. Even a distinguished legal luminary like Soli Sorabji seemed to indicate on TV that the President eventually is bound by the cabinet's advice. If so, the President must resign to honour his oath, shouldn't he? Is that what our legal luminaries believe? As this column indicated on an earlier occasion, one can dump the so-called wisdom of experts in the trash can. The Indian Constitution is written and explicit. Ignore the debates of the Constituent Assembly or which legal expert said what and where. Only Supreme Court judgments, however flawed and mediocre, remain relevant. Like bad decisions by cricket umpires, the flawed judgments by judges must be accepted till reversed or overtaken by subsequent rulings of the courts themselves. Fortunately this does happen sometimes.

Full judgment
The government seeks time till the full judgment is made available. It is obviously attempting to brazen through the crisis. The diversion caused by the earthquake and the uncommonly kind media reactions help it. Indira Gandhi in her day also sought time to study the Allahabad High Court judgment. She ended up by imposing a cowardly, fraudulent Emergency. This time a repeat performance seems unlikely. The judgment cannot be brushed under the carpet. And its implications are so unique as to create an unimagined situation. That's why there is potential for revolution.
One columnist has demanded that the President should resign for signing an unconstitutional order. Others think that the Prime Minister should resign because the President is bound by the advice of the cabinet. Most people of course think that Buta Singh should resign. His eventual transfer from Bihar would satisfy them. The truth is, and this is what makes the situation unique, Buta Singh should be sacked because of a partisan and fraudulent Governor's report. The PM and cabinet should be sacked for endorsing that report and hustling it through in circumstances suggesting conspiracy and malafide intent. And the President should resign because he failed to apply his mind and safeguard the Constitution which he is under oath to protect. But how can all this come about? By a simple process which if followed would convert our present political system into a presidential form of government without violating any norm of the Constitution.
There are two alternative scenarios that could be enacted. First, President Kalam could sack the cabinet. Then on the reasonable plea that ideological diversity gives promise only of a government based on an opportunistic alliance without stability, he could dissolve Parliament and order a fresh poll. Then, and only then, might he accept his moral responsibility of not applying his mind and resign from his post. The alternative and easier course would be for the President to brief the Vice President, Mr Bhairon Singh Shekhawat, before accepting his responsibility and tendering his resignation. Mr Shekhawat as the acting President would be fully empowered to do the rest. Mr Shekhawat as a veteran political warhorse is more than capable of bold action.
The result of these exertions would be that a new President would have to be elected when there is no House. Clearly, the new President would be elected by the new MPs. In that event ideally the election of MPs and the President should be simultaneous. But even if that does not happen, the President's election would come on the heels of the mid-term parliamentary poll. That would allow presidential candidates to throw their hats in the ring. Since their electoral fortunes would hinge on the parliamentary poll, these candidates could not only forge alliances with parties for future support but could actually travel across the country to campaign for their future supporters. In that event people when voting for the MP would also know which presidential candidate they vote for.

Basic structure
Abracadabra! Without violating the basic structure of the Constitution, the President would have been elected directly by the people. Subsequently Parliament could amend the law to give fixed terms to legislatures and make polls to parliament, assemblies and the Presidency simultaneous. Already a sizable section of opinion within parliament favours fixed terms. And till 1967 parliamentary and assembly elections were indeed held simultaneously.
In the aftermath of the Supreme Court judgment and with the President assuming responsibility, a fresh look at his powers would become imperative. Indeed a fresh look at the Constitution might be undertaken. The President upon resigning after the Supreme Court judgment would already be perceived as the one assuming ultimate responsibility for protecting the Constitution. If elected in the manner suggested he would also be seen as the heaviest and most legitimate political authority by the people. There are more than enough powers for the President in the Constitution even as it exists to convert the present system into a Presidential form of government if the President was to exercise those powers.
Constitutions are not scraps of dry text. They contain the law and practice by which societies are ruled. They evolve with history and experience. If India seeks good governance it must inevitably adopt a presidential system to acquire national coherence. At the same time, it must introduce much deeper devolution of power to make democracy and self-rule meaningful for the people. As a multi-lingual, multi-ethnic, multi-religious subcontinent only a genuinely federal democracy can keep India united and strong.
The recent Supreme Court judgment provides an opportunity for such change. Will the nation seize it?

Bar girls returning home to Bihar from Mumbai
Supriya Sharma
(NDTV News)
Saturday, October 15, 2005 (Sasaram):


Even as Sasaram in Bihar gears up for the polls and the festive
season, the latest buzz seems to be that of the bar girls who are
returning home from Mumbai.

The young girls, who had moved to Mumbai in search of a living, have
been forced to return home after the dance bars shut down.

Survival has clearly become a struggle for these girls, with one of
them telling NDTV she was forced to switch to doing mujras.

"I could earn barely Rs 30 a day with the mujras. It was not enough to
pay the rent, bear the other expenses and send money home. So I had to
come back," she said.

The girl added that back in their home state, some of them were
invited for dance shows during Dusshera and Diwali celebration. But
that too helped them earn as little as Rs 1500 a night, to be shared
by the entire group.

Some of the girls say they are more concerned about the loss of their
freedom, than the fall in their income.

"In Bihar we live under pressure and fear. One cannot refuse dance
shows, there could be repercussions. But in Mumbai noone could force
us to work," a bar girl said.

The bar girls are just a more visible face of Bihar's migrant labour,
lakhs of whom are forced to leave their homes in search for work. But
while they may have had to return home for want of an alternative,
they seem happy at the prospect of being able to cast their votes in
the upcoming elections.

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Ramadan is the ninth month of the Islamic lunar calendar. Every day during
this month, Muslims around the world spend the daylight hours in a complete
fast.
During the blessed month of Ramadan, Muslims all over the world abstain
from food, drink, and other physical needs during the daylight hours. As a
time to purify the soul, refocus attention on God, and practice
self-sacrifice, Ramadan is much more than just not eating and drinking.

Muslims are called upon to use this month to re-evaluate their lives in
light of Islamic guidance. We are to make peace with those who have wronged
us, strengthen ties with family and friends, do away with bad habits --
essentially to clean up our lives, our thoughts, and our feelings. The
Arabic word for "fasting" (sawm)literally means "to refrain" - and it means
not only refraining from food and drink, but from evil actions, thoughts,
and words.

During Ramadan, every part of the body must be restrained. The tongue must
be restrained from backbiting and gossip. The eyes must restrain themselves
from looking at unlawful things. The hand must not touch or take anything
that does not belong to it. The ears must refrain from listening to idle
talk or obscene words. The feet must refrain from going to sinful places.
In such a way, every part of the body observes the fast.

Therefore, fasting is not merely physical, but is rather the total
commitment of the person's body and soul to the spirit of the fast. Ramadan
is a time to practice self-restraint; a time to cleanse the body and soul
from impurities and re-focus one's self on the worship of God.

More Ramadan FAQs

http://islam.about.com/od/ramadan/f/ramadan_faq.htm


===================

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Promising a slew of sops for the minorities, including jobs for dalit Muslims, Rashtriya Janata Dal-led United Progressive Alliance's Common Minimum Programme for Bihar elections laid stress on infrastructure and social sector development and pledged to check corruption in high places.

The CMP, released jointly by RJD chief Lalu Prasad Yadav, Congress in-charge of Bihar Digvijay Singh and Nationalist Congress Party General Secretary Tariq Anwar, focused on social engineering, the hallmark of RJD supremo, as it promised to work for job reservations for dalit Muslims, quotas for them in government, non-government and government-aided technical institutions and even favoured job quotas for poor among the upper castes.

The document vowed to check corruption in high places.

It said the chief minister, ministers and legislators will disclose their assets, which would be tabled on the floor of the House. The members will be asked to furnish revised statements on their assets at the beginning of every year.

The CMP assured to take effective steps for getting approval of the Centre to Bihar government's proposal to include backward Kahar, Karmkar, Nonia, Bind, Mallah, Rajbhar, Turha, Barhai and Kamar castes in the scheduled caste category and also to work for designating Tanti, Nai and Kanu castes as schedule castes.

Following the inclusion of these castes in the scheduled castes bracket, the job quota for SC would be enhanced so that those already getting benefits are not deprived of these, it said.

The CMP promised to enact suitable laws for prompt payment of compensation to victims of communal riots and their rehabilitation, besides raising an anti-riot police force.

It assured appointment of teachers of Arabic and Persian in all schools, colleges and universities and Urdu translators and typists in block, sub-divisional and district offices. A sub-inspector having knowledge of the language will be posted at every police station.

The CMP promised salaries and other benefits to madarsa and Sanskrit school teachers on par with state government employee and provision of loans upto Rs five lakh to the youth belonging to the minorities through the minorities financial corporation.

It vowed to maintain communal harmony and warned of action against those who tried to disturb it.

Pledging to work for infrastructure development, the UPA's document promised total rural electrification by year 2009 and free electricity to SC/ST households living below poverty line.

Stating that the power plants at Nabinagar, Barh and Biht would become operational by year 2010, it said Kanti and Barauni thermal power stations would be modernised and expanded by 2008.

It said the work on 250 km of roads under golden quadrilateral project and 550 km under East-West corridor project would be completed in a year.

All villages having a population of 1000 would be connected with all-weather roads by 2009 and those with population of 50 by 2011.

Top priority would be accorded to tackling flood for which the negotiations were continuing between the UPA government at the Centre and the government of Nepal, it said.

Dear friends,
Sorry I forgot to attach the programme. I am forwarding info on a seminar.
Arvind Koshal
>
>
>
> >From: Balan Damodaran <balan_peedee@...>
> >To: arvindkoshal@...
> >Subject: Fwd: Seminar - 01st October 2005
> >Date: Mon, 26 Sep 2005 04:58:20 -0700 (PDT)
> >
>Dear Mr. Koshal,
>
>As advised Mr. Raveendranathan, President,
>Jansanskriti, I am forwarding herewith a programme
>notice on National Seminar to be held on Saturday, the
>1st October from 10.30 a.m. onwards at Dy. Speaker's
>Hall, Constitution Club.
>
>You may like to attend the same along with as many as
>of your friends.
>
>With regards,
>P.D. Balan
>
>Note: forwarded message attached.
>
>

Dear friends,
I am forwarding info on a seminar.
Arvind Koshal



>From: Balan Damodaran <balan_peedee@...>
>To: arvindkoshal@...
>Subject: Fwd: Seminar - 01st October 2005
>Date: Mon, 26 Sep 2005 04:58:20 -0700 (PDT)
>
Dear Mr. Koshal,

As advised Mr. Raveendranathan, President,
Jansanskriti, I am forwarding herewith a programme
notice on National Seminar to be held on Saturday, the
1st October from 10.30 a.m. onwards at Dy. Speaker's
Hall, Constitution Club.

You may like to attend the same along with as many as
of your friends.

With regards,
P.D. Balan

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From robber barons to sugar barons

SWAMINATHAN S ANKLESARIA AIYAR

[ SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 03, 2005 11:08:11 PM ]

Bihar is among the poorest, most misgoverned states. More Plan funds or public sector projects are not re-medies. The st-ate was India's industrial heartland in the 1950s, boasting of the giant Tata complex at Jamshedpur and Dalmia-Jain complex at Rohtas. Bihar enjoyed massive public sector investment (Bokaro steel, Barauni refinery, Sindri and Barauni fertiliser plants, Heavy Engineering Corporation, Mining and Allied Machinery Corporation, coal mines).
Yet, it became mired in poverty and stagnation because of deplorable governance and weak institutions. No businessman invests in Bihar today because the investment climate is lousy. Public infrastructure does not work. Any successful businessman faces mafia extortion and kidnapping threats. The police cannot help, partly because the mafia are woven into the political fabric. There are criminals galore in the state legislature and cabinet.
Why do Bihari's elect mafia dons? Because the police-judicial system is useless, and offers no protection or redress. By contrast, the mafia system functions. Mafia bosses hold court and give verdicts that are obeyed instantly, since they are enforced with mafia guns. I was told during a visit to Bihar that even supposedly good politicians needed guns and militia for protection. Being law-abiding was not an option.
Life in Bihar is not rule-based: it depends on the whim of the powerful and moneyed, with caste-based armies prowling the land. Lalu Prasad did not create this misgovernance: it was created by countless upper-caste predecessors. Lalu's alternative was not good governance, but giving the spoils of misgovernance to Yadavs and Muslims. That formula has enabled him to win several elections.
He sneers that development does not win votes, caste does. Plan funds are routinely returned unspent to Delhi. Bureaucrats and teachers do not get paid, and so focus on ways to make money on the side. How can such a state be reformed? Additional Plan funds will not work. In theory, the Centre could impose a financial emergency, but this is unthinkable in an era of coalition governments dependent for survival on regional parties.
I see no easy way out. Harnessing rural communities for participatory development is a way forward, but the robber-barons of Bihar are uninterested. How, then, can we improve governance and institutions in a polity based on the spoils of misgovernance? One answer: make legitimate business politically and financially rewarding for the mafia than extortion.

 
good news but why these people don't give the name of the official who told this thing.

On Thu, 01 Sep 2005 vagish Jha wrote :
>World Bank to invest $500 million in Bihar
>
>Indo-Asian News Service
>
>Patna, August 31
>
>The World Bank would invest $500 million in two years in Bihar on
>projects to improve livelihood opportunities for the poor, a
>government official said on Wednesday.
>
>He said the bank would invest $100 million within one year and another
>$400 million in the next year on this project.
>
>"This decision was finalised at a high-level meeting between top
>officials of the bank and state government here," the official said.
>
>He said the decision was finalised after a series of meetings held
>over the past week.
>
>"The Bihar government gave its nod for the bank's investment in the
>state on Tuesday," the official said.
>
>The project aims to build livelihood support organisations. It will
>also finance livelihood business opportunities.
>
>
>
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