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Maharashtra govt. made a rule that
every doctor had to serve a year in
villages before they can embark upon
post graduation. That took me to a
village in Maharashtra where the
nearest petrol pump and PCO booth
was 35 kms. away [I was in charge of
a population of 28,000 including
surrounding villages and responsible
for their health].
This village of population 7000 had
a concrete road; more than 20 hours
electricity daily; water was
available a few hour a day.
Here I learnt what panchayat raaj
meant . The elected representatives
of all the villages used to be
present in monthly block meetings
where they would question all
development issues from the govt.
officials i.e doctor, vet doctor,
forest officer, education officer ,
BDO etc. if a health target of govt.
was not met they would question it ,
if construction of road was delayed
they would question it. If teachers
were absent they would question it
and no one dared to be absent. Govt.
officers were truly the servant of
public. Same model was replicated at
district level where the CEO [IAS
officer], district health officer
etc. were reporting to zilla
parishad.
This is democracy in its true form
which ensures rights to its citizens
and the local leaders are directly
responsible to the population they
represented. The elected
representatives were from political
parties and had representations from
all castes , i.e. the posts rotated
every year between various caste
categories so everyone had a fair
chance.
According to my understanding there
wasn’t a panchayat election in Bihar
for ages.
We may think that after being highly
educated we know the answers , but
I’ve seen simple villagers implement
programmes more efficiently than
many learned people could. Allowing
democracy/self governance [i.e.
actually implementing Indian
constitution] may help Bihar restore
some of its glory. - Shashank
Prasad - Dec. 27, 2005
People get the government they
deserve. People of Bihar have to
blame themselves for this sad state
of affairs. In Bihar, Mahatma Gandhi
started the first civil disobedience
movement in India, which shook the
foundation of the British empire - a
unique achievement for an unarmed
movement. But after independence
Bihar lost its spine. No doubt, Jai
Prakash Narayan started the Total
Revolution, but he could not
consolidate it. Even when Mr Narayan
was in good health and was aware of
the ills of Bihar, he did nothing to
uplift the condition of Bihar
besides delivering lectures and
writing a long letter to the then
Chief Minister S. K. Sinha.
Afterwards, people started looking
for their own interests. Casteism
prospered. Development took a back
seat. Leaders hankered after power.
A movie star could have challenged
Laloo because of his charisma and
crowd-pulling capacity, but he
hankered after chief ministership.
People too loved talking than doing.
Even IAS and IPS officers fell in
line-trying to keep their bosses
happy. This happened to Bihar- the
capital of Maury Empire, the birth
place of Gandhi's movement in Bihar,
and the place of origins of Buddhism
and Jainism and the playground of
the leader of Sikhism. If Biharis
want their state undeveloped, if
they like to see their officers
humiliated, if they enjoy their
neighbors get killed for making
honest money, if they want to
kowtow before criminals by electing
them to legislature more power to
them. - Satya - Dec. 27, 2005
Nothing has gone wrong with Bihar or
in Bihar!! nobody is to be blamed if
at all anything has gone wrong in or
with Bihar!!
I am very surprised as to why people
blame a particular set of people or
a faction or a group for something
wrong which is not one year or
fifteen year phenomenon.
Was Bihar very progressive and Very
well administered before the Lalu
Raaj? well please give me statistics
of crime and development which took
place during the last five years
before the startup of 15 years Lalu
Raaj?
I very well remember that I spent 6
Hours from Bhagalpur to Dumka
covering a distance of 115 Kms. in
1990 and today it is the same.
I have seen the crime graphs where
there was no let up in crime even
during that period , the media was
not so prominent that time as it is
today that even if a dog is killed
in a mishap it is reported on the
front page of many Bihar dailies
(This is just an allusion from which
I wish to express what I really want
to).
The degeneration of the social
values and culture started in Bihar
from 1974 onwards as I remember that
our parents used to go for late
night movies without any fear and
even if we forgot to lock our doors
there was no fear.
The local people were very friendly
and cordial and the rickshaw puller
never charged more, moreover if we
forgot some packets in a shop and
went the next day it was neatly
returned.
Such was Bihar during the 1960 and
early 1970 what my parents told me
as they had migrated from Rajasthan
in 1950 and settled in Bhagalpur.
All the problems slowly started and
they became a legacy and acceptable
social norm in Bihar.
In case anyone really wants to know
and tell what has gone wrong with or
in Bihar then the answer lies in the
question itself because Bihar was
like that since over 30 years and 30
years are 2 life terms therefore if
in 2 life terms Bihar could not be
what it should be then blaming
anyone will not reap any benefit.
I will not advocate what will make
Bihar regain its lost glory nor am I
going to rant the same poetry
embellished with nice words on how
to make Bihar a better place.
It requires immense stamina and
courage and all the good human
resources to make Bihar the same as
it was during Independence and it
will require selfless sacrifices
from individuals whose work should
be at par with those martyrs who
laid down their lives for India's
Independence during 1857 and not
during 1947 and few years before it.
Some measures that the govt. should
adopt for fastest results:
1) Charge appropriate income tax on
Doctors, Lawyers, The Coaching
Institutes with VAT enforcement ,
this should start immediately.
2) Develop dairies - Milk Farming
(as the quality of Milk in Bihar is
the best I have ever tasted ) and
bottled milk beverages and cater to
other nearby states or Orissa, West
Bengal at competitive rates.
3) Open mineral water bottling
plants and supply under the Brand
Ganges , as the river Ganga is
famous the world over and it will be
welcome all over India.
4) Open more applied courses schools
which will make a child independent
who will at least carve out a living
which will not be the case if just
learns English and get nothing, make
the child a craftsman, an expert
interior designer (carpenter) or
some able person who is able to
provide a service to his village
rather than going out of it. -
Sanjay - Dec. 27, 2005
I guess, 15 years of RJD rule can
partially be blamed. I mention
"partially" for the reason; Bihar
was never a disciplined state.
Before the advent of Laloo, it was
mostly upper caste people who used
to wield the "Power". Again, I want
to emphasize the word "Power" for
which most of the Biharis are
starved. How much power an IAS
officer got? Nothing, if he does
every thing honestly and by rule.
His responsibilities are specified.
But it becomes significant when he
starts practicing corruption.
But after Laloo, it was almost all
community started practicing this
power game. This actually brought
the disaster.
Few comments:
1) No one is servant to any one. I
am in Job, whether private or
public, I have a responsibility and
for that I am paid. Though it is a
good word, most of the time it is
translated in Bihar as "Naukar". It
is very important to understand that
a junior officer works "with" senior
officer, not "under" him.
2) "6 Hours from Bhagalpur to Dumka
covering a distance of 115 Kms. in
1990" was no good but after 15 years
if it remained the same than it can
be called as worst. And there is no
reason why a ruler like Laloo should
not be blamed for that. - Om
Kumar - Dec. 31, 2005 |
