Nitish Kumar says Bihar denied legitimate assistance yet has come long way

Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar referred to the representation of over 50% of women in panchayati raj institutions and added the change is to be seen to be believed

Chief minister Nitish Kumar on Thursday hit out at the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) over the denial of even Bihar’s legitimate financial assistance and said the state has come a long way since 2006 by its own efforts.

Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar. (HT PHOTO)

He referred to the representation of over 50% of women in panchayati raj institutions (PRI) and added the change is to be seen to be believed. “A girl cycling to school was unheard of prior to 2006. But that is a reality now. The tap water to all scheme and the availability of electricity to the remotest places has transformed the rural landscape.”

He called for remembering the positive change and urged people not to get misled by those who are experts in misleading. “If the state government will not be there, they will also not be there for you. They believe in self-publicity and do not allow others to have their due even for genuine work.”

He said Bihar was the only state where elections for PRIs and urban local bodies are not held on party lines. “I do not work on the party line. ...all will benefit, irrespective of which party one has allegiance to.”

Kumar said Bihar had a budget of merely ₹22000 crore in 2005, which has now grown to 263000 crore. “And does the Centre give even the state’s share of 42% in devolution of taxes? What we are doing is on our own. We started tap water for all scheme and later the Centre also started it. They wanted to give us funds, but I said no, as we were already working on it.”

Kumar asked panchayat representatives not to lose sight of the transformation in rural areas and the kind of respect they were getting.