PHED Minister Booed in Gaya
Gaya: Dec. 30, 2007
Bihar Public Health Engineering Department (PHED) Minister Prem Kumar, on Sunday in Gaya faced the wrath of angry protestors who, during the laying of the foundation stone of Harihar Subramaniam Stadium by Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, disrupted his speech by continuing to chant unflattering slogans for the government's failure to provide water and power in the district.
As soon as Prem Kumar stood up to deliver his speech, thousands of people who had gathered at the event started to shout 'down with the minister' and refused to give him any chance to speak. Despite attempts by the Chief Minister to quiet the the crowd, the protestors only grew louder forcing the PHED minister to just sit down and let other leaders to speak.
The Chief Minister, while admitting that the pace of development in the state was far from satisfactory, asked the people to have patience and allow the government to continue its programs that it had initiated after the 15 years of devastation caused by the Lalu-Rabri regime.
"We want Bihar to be the most developed state in the nation and we have initiated programs worth billions of rupees but Bihar could not be fixed in a day or two or even in a year or two. These things take time but people need to have patience. We could start acquiring lands of the farmers in Bihar on the pattern of Nandigram or Singur and in the name of development but we have no intention of forcing people to give up their lands," the Chief Minister said.
"Besides Patna, Gaya is one of the most important places of Bihar because of its historical relevance. The government is doing everything to ensure power and water is provided in the district on a 24-hour basis. Roads are also being developed to improve tourism prospect. However, these things cannot be completed in one day and the people of Bihar, if still not satisfied by the developments in the state, would have an opportunity to deliver their verdict in the next Assembly polls," Kumar said.
|
