Bihar governor addresses House, lists govt’s successes, plans

Phagu Chauhan called the rule of law the state’s top priority and added Bihar has successfully controlled organised crime and maintained communal amity

Bihar governor Phagu Chauhan on Friday detailed the state government’s achievements including in controlling Covid-19 even as he called for the continuance of precautions to deal with the pandemic.

Bihar governor Phagu Chauhan. (HT Archive)

“The government...worked in coordination with the Centre during the Covid-19 pandemic. ...over ₹10,000-crore has been spent on providing relief to the people... Against the national average of 140,440 tests per million, Bihar has done 17,24,25. The recovery rate in Bihar at 99.19% is also higher than the national average, while the death rate is 0.58% against the national average of 1.43%. The number of active Covid cases in Bihar is now just 597,” he said in his joint address to the Bihar legislature on the first day of the Budget Session. He said this became possible because of the government’s concerted efforts.

Chauhan called the rule of law the state’s top priority and added Bihar has successfully controlled organised crime and maintained communal amity. He added the government has a policy of zero tolerance to corruption and added the Vigilance Investigation Bureau has registered 22 cases involving corrupt public servants in 2020. “Four other cases involved the misuse of office and six other disproportionate assets. ...161 recommendations related to money laundering have been sent to the Enforcement Directorate...property worth 45.81 crore of 28 accused has been seized.”

Chauhan maintained the government has continued with its inclusive development agenda. He added it will implement its Seven Resolves announced ahead of the 2020 polls and they include youth empowerment and generation of two million jobs. “Apart from the skill development, the government will also provide incentive up to ₹5 lakh for new enterprises at just 1% interest. The government will set up engineering, medical and sports universities.”

Chauhan said the government has started a grievance redressal system and taken steps to empower especially the women through 35% reservation in government jobs and 50% in panchayati raj institutions. He added the government has started working on its resolve to provide water to every farm in the next five years. “In villages, basic amenities have been provided and now the effort is to ensure street lighting and solid waste management.”