Where there is a will, there is a way. Sunil Kumar, an alumnus of the BIT, Mesra, truly symbolises this spirit in a state where red tape is said to have often delayed many a project.
An assistant engineer with the state Building Construction Corporation, Sunil will soon visit Bangkok with his family at the expense of the government. The reason: He completed the bridge on the Baghmati river in record time.
The Baghmati bridge in Muzzafarpur, falling en route to Janakpur from Nepal, could not be completed for the past 18 years after work on it started under the then Congress regime in 1989.
However, the 18-year-old project, suffering from red tape, was completed in a record 18-month time to "bridge the waters of the Baghmati", known as the "sorrow of Bihar" for causing recurring floods every year.
Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, who had earlier announced a perform-or-perish policy for government officials to check red tape, has reasons to smile as the bridge was completed before the stipulated deadline of June-July this year.
Inaugurating the bridge last Friday, he presented a small envelope to Sunil with a unique gift.
Inside, there was an all-expense paid return ticket to Bangkok.
Such gifts had never come the way of government servants in Bihar, said officials.
The Nitish government has initiated action against 50 government officials, including DG (home guard) Narayan Mishra, on charges of corruption in the past one.
From- Tribune News Service, April-23,07
