Patna Group

Reports quoting official sources said that the State Cabinet in its meeting on Friday took a decision in this regard. Patna has long back qualified to be upgraded to a metro city as it had fulfilled the basic criteria of having a residential population of one million.

At present more than 1.7 million people permanently reside in Patna while another 300,000 come here everyday from outside for jobs and other purposes. A ten-member Metropolitan Planning Committee (MPC) would soon be set up under the chairmanship of the state Urban Development Minister, which in turn would decide for the extension of the new geographical limit of the city. Apart from the Minister renowned city planners, engineers and architects would be the members and advisors of the high-power committee.

The population of Patna is increasing at the rate of eight to 10 per cent annually, which is much above than any other city in the east, including Bhubaneswar and Guwahati. The population rate increased after the year 2000 primarily because of a steady socio- economic growth in the area, better scope of job opportunities as well as improved law and order in almost every locality.

Fair convener Amit Jha said special arrangements would be made for career counselling of students at the fair venue.

Being organised by Centre for Readership Development (CRD), the fair would also have arrangements for screening of documentary films based on the lives of special persons.

Over 30 lakh books of 15,000 publishing houses would be on display at the fair during which classical music programmes would also be organised.

Speaking at the inaugural function of the Eastern Regional Centre of the Hyderabad-based National  Institute of Rural Development (NIRD), in Patna on Saturday he said that his government would not tolerate any irregularity in this regard.

Singh inaugurated the NIRD, which is a wing of Union rural development ministry, at Patliputra Colony. NIRD imparts training to people's representatives of panchayati raj system and officials. The aim is also to make rural people aware of their rights.

Giving this information, NAB president Shantilal K Somaiya, who runs 34 institutions, including educational, hospital and cultural, in Mumbai and other parts of India, said the association is making an inroad in Bihar by coming up with an IT centre for blind persons for which Somaiya Trusts has already donated land in Danapur to the state unit of the association.

However, more activities, christened as "Ankur", of the association are in store for the state with focus on prevention of blindness in children, Somaiya said and added that of the 1.4 billion population approximately 21 million are visually impaired. What is worse is the fact that 75 per cent of this is preventable blindness and 26 per cent blind are children in the age group of 0-12 years. Rural India accounts for 80 per cent of the country's blind population.

To prevent blindness in children, it is necessary to strengthen the reach of government's programme to control blindness.

Now trams run only in Kolkata. Very few of us are aware that the founder of Kolkata Job Charnock spent more than a decade as the chief of Patna factory before founding the city of Kolkata in 1699 AD by integrating three adjoining villages -- Sutanati, Kolikata and Govindpur.
All these lesser known information about Patna are included in Bihar government's first ever 120 pages colour book on `Patna: A Monumental History'.

It contains at least 107 monuments of Patna. Bihar's culture department has brought out a first ever book on Patna which would be formally released soon.

The book, currently under print, contains information and photographs of monuments, historical sites, heritage and aristocratic buildings, landmarks, institutions, a few modern architectures, along with the information about some non-existent monuments.

Patna's aristocratic buildings include, Mariam Manzil (Anisabad), Sultan Palace (Transport Bhawan), Rizwan Castle (Fraser Road), Mazharul Haque's residence (Fraser Road), Sachchidanand Sinha's residence (Bihar School Examination Board), Badsah Manzil and Hajjam Saheb's Kothi (both at Paschim Darwaza), Baoli Hall (Guru Govind Singh hospital campus, Patna City) and Quila House.

This building would have parking facility as well in the basement. The decision has been taken to provide more spacious room for PRS and UTS counters as well as to decongest Patna Junction, particularly the western side, said Danapur DRM B D Garg.

According to Garg, the railways would start work at the new site soon after the approval of the project by the Railway Board. Since Patna Junction has been facing the rush of about 1.5 lakh people daily either boarding trains or alighting here from different places, the railways have no option but to shift the existing PRS office. The railways intend to convert the present PRS office into an AC waiting lounge. Thus passengers will have better accommodation facilities on platform no 1 at Patna Junction, he said.

The DRM maintained that the railways have decided to build another AC waiting hall for passengers on the east end of Patna Junction with an aim to provide proper accommodation to passengers waiting for trains on platforms. Besides, the railways would widen the west end foot over bridge (FOB) from the present 12 feet to 16 feet. The middle FOB is being widened to 20 feet at Patna Junction. It would be made functional for passengers by the end of this month, he said.

Senior Patna Metro official B. N. Singh said the decision to collect holding tax from the residents of Pataliputra Colony and Mainpura was taken considering the unprecedented change in the urban landscape, the existing infrastructural availability, and the growing burden on the municipality.

In a carefully detailed plan to inform the landowners in Pataliputra Colony and Mainpura, PMC officials would begin a publicity campaign starting Tuesday during which announcements over loudspeakers would be made to inform the residents of the change. The PMC then hold camps in those areas where forms would be distributed for landowners to fill and submit to the proper authority.

Those who fail to voluntarily fill and submit the form within a specified time would then be approached door to door and required to complete the formality after which the PMC officials would begin measuring the land and determine the amount of tax to be charged on them.

Pataliputra Colony that was started in 1954 by a group of private developers and managed by the Pataliputra Welfare Society had so far remained out of the jurisdiction of the PMC by setting up its own infrastructure including power and water supply for its residents and cleanliness and maintenance of the community.

Kumar said the plan would cost the state exchequer more than Rs. 10 crore and the contract to install closed circuit cameras on Patna streets has been given to the Beltron Electronics.

Among the areas that would record activities 36 of the 24 hours each day are the VIP areas near the state Assembly and state Legislature, Bailey Road near Patna High Court, Civil Court, Dak Bungalow Crossing, Boring Road Crossing, New Secretariat, Mahavir Temple near Patna Junction, and the R-Block Crossing, the SSP said.

The Control Room is to be set up in the SSP's office where senior police officials, including the SSP himself, would constantly monitor activities on the streets.

Cameras would also be installed in certain areas of Patna City including outside Gurudwara and the Shitla Temple and talks were on with bank officials to place high-tech surveillance video cameras to monitor any suspicious activity, the SSP said.

But if the Railway Minister can dream of a big project, can Chief Minister Nitish Kumar lag far behind? He is also determined to construct a 21 km long expressway along the banks of river Ganges in the city to improve its congested traffic system.

The idea of introducing a unique monorail service on elevated platforms struck the Railway Minister during his recent trip to Kuala Lumpur where he undertook a pleasant journey on its world famous service.

In fact, Mr Prasad was so impressed with the journey that he decided to send an expert team from the Indian Railways to KuaLa Lumpur to inspect the nitty-gritties of the technicalities of the monorail service there, so that the same could be introduced here to ease the city''s congested traffic system to a great extent.

As per his plan, this rapid urban transport system could be introduced in and around Patna in a 20 km circular route on elevated platforms passing through all the congested localities.

Leading the campaign, Parveen Amanullah said the state capital has been defaced by heaps of garbage all around, waterlogging in different residential localities, drainage chocked due to polythene waste, vanishing greenery and increasing number of auto-mobiles on the narrow roads. She urged the people to stop using and throwing polythene bags to save the environment.

The signature campaign will continue till Friday and on that day a blood donation camp will also be held at Khanqah Munamia, Patna City. She said the trust is also making the citizens aware about the use of RTI Act for keeping Patna clean and green and other issues. To seek information about the cleaning and removal of garbage from their respective localities, the people can seek information from the information office of the municipal corporation by filing the Form A along with a postal order of Rs 10.

The high court was hearing a PIL highlighting the waterlogging problem in the city during the monsoon. Sinha was directed by the HC to constitute a team of lawyers to vist waterlogged localities in Patna and inspect whether civic amenities were being provided to the citizens or not.

The member-lawyers of the team, who have been given responsibilities in their respective areas, are Rajesh Sinha and Rupak Kumar for Kadamkuan area, Mayank Rukhaiyar and Purnendu Singh for Rajendranagar, Rajiv Roy for Machchuatoli, Anjani Kumar and Shashi Bhushan Kumar for Kankerbagh, Alok Kumar Sinha for Chitragupta Nagar, for Bahadurpur Housing Colony, the responsibility goes to Kumar Amitesh Chandra and Harendra Prasad Singh, while for Boring Road/Pataliputra Colony, Vivekanand Kumar and Vivek Prasad have been given the charge for Ashiananagar the responsibility goes to Rajesh Kumar.

The nine points to be looked into by the lawyers committee are--removal of water from roads and ditches, removal of garbages, sprinkling of bleaching and gamaxin powder on road, distribution of bleaching powder and gamaxine to the residents in affected areas, fogging in affected areas, duration of electric supply to (water) pumping stations, distribution of free medicine to patients falling sick due to waterlogging and supply of unsafe drinking water and mosquito problem, distrubution of tablets for purification of drinking water and measures for prevention of water-borne diseases.

The PMC has earmarked over 700 garbage-collection points spread over the city's 72 wards and the residents are supposed to dump garbage only at these points. The defaulters will have to pay a fine ranging from Rs 100 to Rs 5,000 and the habitual ones may land in jail as well, PMC Commissioner Mihir Kumar Singh said on Tuesday.

Apart from the existing 72 sanitation inspectors, an additional 128 such inspectors will be deputed to keep a tab on the defaulters.

The civic body has also floated tenders inviting bids from housing societies and other agencies to take up the task of garbage collection from households. Owners will have to pay a minimum of Rs 30 per month for availing this service which will rid them of dumping garbage at identified points.

PMC is also in the process of purchasing over 1,900 large-size dustbins which will be placed at identified points for garbage collection work.

A division bench comprising Justice Chandramauli Kumar Prasad and Justice Ravi Ranjan, while hearing a PIL earlier filed by advocate Shyam Kishore Sharma, put the blame squarely on the shoulders of the PMC officials who, instead of finding a permanent solution to the perennial problem, were inventing excuses after excuses to hide their own ineptitude.

"Why don't you go to a temple and pray to the God to give less rain to Bihar?" Justice Prasad said angrily when the PMC counsel said the water-logging was the result of too much rain in the state.

The court ordered the PMC to start spraying DDT and bleaching powder in Patna at a massive scale to prevent an epidemic from breaking out. It also directed the government to provide free medical treatment and medicines to all those who may have been impacted by the unhygienic conditions in the city.

The next date of hearing has been set for August 11.

During his weekly Janata Durbar, Kumar said that this task force would be made up of expert engineers, specialists in drainage system, geologists, and other professionals who would, following detailed study and survey of the area, suggest short and long-term ways to keep Patna free from water-logging.

With the talk of a detailed study barely in its infancy, chances of any permanent relief could still be years, perhaps even a decade, away, said a senior Water Resources official on Monday while accusing the former Urban Development Minister Ashwini Kumar Choubey of squandering away the first two years in power that could have been used to resolve the problem once and for all.

Patna schools to remain closed for two more days due to water-logging

Take the case of Patna's tallest Hanuman Mandir at Rajbanshinagar locality. The Bihar State Board of Religious Trusts (BSBRT) recently issued a show-cause notice to the trustee of the temple to explain various irregularities. "The trustee has so far failed to reply to the notice within the stipulated period. The deadline ended on Tuesday. We are now contemplating a criminal prosecution against the trustee under Section 67 of the BSBRT Act," BSBRT administrator Kishore Kunal said.

Thousands of people, mainly bureaucrats and politicians, offer puja at this Hanuman temple daily which is located on Bailey Road in the vicinity of government quarters of VIP.

The condition of Sri Sai Baba temple at Kankerbagh is no better either. The BSBRT has also detected some technical fault in the trust deed of the temple. In view of the financial irregularities in the temple, the BSBRT had sent an audit team to assess its daily income and donations.

"Now students of madrassas, like any educational institution, will be able apply for jobs in the railways," Lalu Prasad told IANS by phone.

"All the necessary official formalities in this regard will be finalised soon by the railways," Lalu Prasad said.

The move is seen as part of Lalu Prasad's political strategy ahead of the parliamentary elections to woo Muslim voters.

Early this year, the minister promised to increase the percentage of Muslim employees in the railways.

But a latest report of a review meeting of the group of secretaries of central government last month found the railways were still lagging in recruitment of Muslims.

Last year acting on the Rajinder Sachar Committee recommendations, the government issued directives to all ministries to improve participation of minorities in government jobs.

The Rahmani coaching centre will be established in Patna (Bihar). The tuition, food and lodging will be totally free enabling meritorious students from poor economic back ground to start preparation for IIT JEE without any pressure.

According to a statement from the Rahmani Foundation, Abhayanand will select students for the centre after the written test which will be held on 20th of July 2008 at thirteen different places including Patna, Gaya, Bhagalpur, Siwan, Kishangunj, Katihar, Darbhanga and Muzaffarpur.

The eligibility for the test is 10+2 or Intermediate with more than 60% marks. Students who passed 10+2 or Intermediate two years back are not eligible to apply. Appearing students can also apply if they expect they will get more than 60 % in the board exam.

It should be clear that only those students can sit in the test on 20th July who want to compete only in IIT JEE 2009 as well as who are willing to live in Patna from August 2008 to March 2009 for the preparation of IIT JEE.

Under the scheme girls studying till Class 9 in government schools were to be gifted free bicycles. But the state Human Resource Development Ministry poured cold water over their dreams. It gave an order denying free cycles to minority schools.

DENIAL OF RIGHTS: The Bihar govt issued an order saying only girls in majority schools will be given cycles.

A student, Rubiya, says, "Mera ek sawal hai jaab sabhi dharma ki ladkiyo ko cycle mill rahi hai to hamare sath ye bhed bhad kyu?" ("When girls of all religions are getting a cycle, then why this discrimination against us?")

A trip to school and back home on a bicycle gifted by the state government is Nitish Kumar government's way of empowering school going girls. But as the majority of the girls enjoy this free ride, those studying in minority institutions are being denied this pleasure.

According to Irina Sinha, the project director of the BSWDC no male member will manage the outlets. Besides, woman vegetable vendors of Patna and Nalanda will be provided technical support to run their outlets. These two districts will also be the collection centres of vegetables.

She hoped that this move will help create a circle of prosperity by bringing rural women into the mainstream and also provide them employment opportunities. Sinha also claimed that this venture would not affect the daily vegetable sellers of these two places.

Reports say that NGOs have been asked to come up with proposals for providing technical support and identify women who will not only sell vegetables but also take care of the entire management. The last date for submitting the proposals by them is June 27, when BSWDC will chalk out the final strategy. Initially, these outlets will be owned by the state women development corporation, but soon a federation of women managing the stores will be formed, which will be given a legal status too and the management will be transferred to them.

The truth is that in 2006 the state government had planned to open Bihar Fresh Vegetable Outlets in Patna on the pattern of Reliance Fresh. But not a single outlet came up. Now it is to be seen whether an outlet by women will succeed or not.

Ansari described the CIMP as a big step for modern education. Classes at the institute will begin from the makeshift campus at Hindi Bhawan here from the first week of July. It will initially have a batch of 60 students.

Vice-President Mohammad Hamid Ansari inaugurating the Chandragupta Institute of Management Patna (CIMP)

Like the IIMs, the proposed institute will offer MBA and other management degrees. Admission to it will be through the Common Admission Test (CAT).

A group of alumni and faculty of IIM-A, who hail from Bihar, have helped the state government establish the CIMP. The state government had already earmarked 20 acres of land to build the institute.

The vice president, who is on a two-day visit to Bihar, was received at the Jai Prakash Narayan International airport by Governor R.S. Gavai and Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and given a guard of honour.

Ansari was scheduled to attend a function at Imarat-E-Sharia, an influential Muslim body, in Phulwarisharif Wednesday evening.

On Thursday, he will visit the Mahabodhi temple in Bodh Gaya.