Thursday, October 25, 2012

Empowerment for Mahadalit youths with English language skills





Manoj Chaurasia in Patna

For the first time, Mahadalit youths in Bihar are being provided with an opportunity to learn spoken English. This exclusive project for them aims at bettering their skills, which should help them in getting good jobs, and consequently raising their standard of living.


Mahadalits, the poorest of the poor in the society, constitute around 15 per cent of the state’s total population, and they play a significant role in politics and formation of the government.


The background to this huge step forward in the social uplifting of Mahadalits, stems from a range of initiatives put in place for this particular community by the Nitish Kumar government.


The latest project is a collaboration between the Bihar Mahadalit Vikas Mission, a commission of the government of Bihar and British Lingua, a training institute of national repute in the field of English skills and capacity building. The training module offers four-hour daily classes except on Sundays.


These are divided into four equal sessions ~ sentence formation, group discussion, language activities and feedback. The structural-cum-interactive method adopted in the programme was developed by British Lingua and has proved highly successful in imparting practical and easy-to-follow ways of using English in a variety of contexts.


Bihar’s deputy chief minister Sushil Kumar Modi said the NDA was committed to raising the Mahadalit community out of its downtrodden position, and bringing it to the main stream of society, while Mr Vidyanand Vikal, chairman of the Bihar State Commission for Scheduled Castes, who visited and interacted with the Mahadalit youths said: "I am more than happy to see these youths who are generally more comfortable speaking their own regional language, quite at par with those who can speak fluent English. It is no less than a miracle to see their improvement in such a short space of time”.


British Lingua’s project director group captain I B Thakur said he was most gratified to see the Mahadalit youths holding conversations in English.


Words of praise for the scheme have also come from the trainees. “I had never thought that I too would be able to communicate in English one day. I'm grateful to both the British Lingua and the government of Bihar for their role in providing me with an opportunity of obtaining English Skills,” said Tulshi Rani, a student. “Now I can hold conversations in English and feel that I'm at par with those belonging to the advanced communities,” said Suresh Mahto, another student.


Mr Birbal Jha, Managing Director, British Lingua, said: “By taking English skills to the grassroots of society, we can instill a sense of worth in its members. They can benefit from knowledge of the English language as it brings parity and removes the divisions within society that hold certain sections back simply because of their ancestry.” Mr Jha, quoting Mahatma Gandhi said: “One small step leads to another and soon you have a journey”.


With Bihar taking its place as a meeting point for new investment, where English is the language of business, both nationally and internationally, the barriers are being broken down by integrating English into the lives of the state’s most downtrodden section of society.

Monday, October 22, 2012

A Chief Minister trying to be a "goodwill ambassador"


In his first term as the chief minister of Bihar, Nitish Kumar had better confined himself to the local politics but in his second term, he seems to be grabbing the national centrestage trying hard to transform himself into a "goodwill ambassador". While he has already visited China, he is scheduled to visit Pakistan the very next month. India just does not share very good relations with those two Asian countries. While tension in relations prevails with China after the latter was accused of doing military build-ups along the border, bilateral relations with Pakistan have soured in the aftermath of 2008 Mumbai terrorist attacks. Manoj Chaurasia reports…


Prime Minister Manmohan Singh may be quite hesitant about visiting Pakistan post Mumbai terror attacks but Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar looks only too eager to visit the neighbouring country. It took just an invitation extended out of sheer courtesy by a visiting Pakistan delegation to Bihar in August this year to make Kumar plan for a weeklong tour to Pakistan!

“It’s worth mentioning that a Pakistani delegation which visited Bihar recently had extended an invitation to the chief minister to visit Pakistan on behalf of the Pakistan Institute of Legislative Development and Transparency. After completing the basic formalities, his Pakistan trip has been scheduled between 9 November and 17 November”, says an official statement issued by the state government.

The statement claims that Kumar’s visit to Pakistan will not only promote bilateral ties but also accelerate the dialogue process between the two countries. The dialogue process, it may be noted here, has been virtually got derailed in the aftermath of 2008 Mumbai terrorist attacks which killed more than 150 people.

As per his itinerary cleared by the ministry of external affairs, Kumar will be visiting places like Islamabad, Karachi, Lahore, Mohenjodaro and Taxila during his stay in Pakistan and will also be paying courtesy visits to several top Pakistani leaders, like the President, Prime Minister and also opposition party leader Imran Khan.

Official sources said party ministers Renu Kumari, Sukhda Pandey, Rajya Sabha member NK Singh, chief secretary AK Sinha and home secretary Amir Subhani will be part of the 11-member delegation Mr Kumar will be leading to Pakistan on a “goodwill mission”.

Official sources said Kumar’s proposed tour to Pakistan followed an invitation extended to him by the 18-member Pakistan parliamentary delegation which had visited Bihar in August this year. The invitation to visit Pakistan had been extended on behalf of Punjab chief minister Mohammad Shahbaz Sharif, brother of former Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif.

During his visit to Bihar, the Pakistani delegation had called on the chief minister and hugely praised his leadership skills for ushering in development works in his home state. And, apparently an overwhelmed chief minister just did not resist his temptation to visit Pakistan, confided an official of CM’s office.

This is the second time in past 16 months that Bihar chief minister has assumed the new role of a “peace ambassador” to neighbouring countries India does not share very good relations.

Last year in June, Kumar had led a delegation to China on a three-day “goodwill mission”. His visit to China also followed an invitation extended to him by a visiting Chinese envoy to Bihar, and Mr Kumar on his part did not let him down. Earlier, the Bihar CM had visited Bhutan and Mauritius though his goal was to lure foreign investors.

Sunday, October 21, 2012

In legitimacy quest, woman made to marry dead man



Manoj Chaurasia in Patna

A poverty-stricken woman in Bihar had to marry a dead man last week to save her four children from the stigma of illegitimacy. The incident occurred in Banka district.

Chudki Hembrom and Mahalal Marandi, residents of Rosaiya village under Katoria block had been living together under their community’s customs which allow young adults to live together till they understand each other well enough to get married.

But Chudki and Mahalal couldn't decide about entering into formal wedlock since they were too poor to afford the cost of the wedding feast they were required to arrange. In the meantime, four children were born to the couple.  

Even as they were trying hard to accumulate money for their wedding rituals, disaster struck when Mahalal died due to hunger and disease.   

The tragedy left the woman on the horns of a dilemma. Everyone feared she would have to live a life of ignominy with her children not having the name of their father.

Community leaders decided the couple should be married before Mahalal was consigned to the flames.

In the macabre ritual, the lifeless finger of the dead man was used to put vermilion mark on the hair parting of Chudki, who was dressed in bridal attire. In minutes the vermilion mark was washed off and the woman was declared a widow.

Chudki was shell-shocked, but she was still relieved: the opprobrium of “illegitimacy” had been erased from her children’s names.

“I agreed to it for the sake of my children. Now they can at least use their father’s family name,” said Chudki.

As is its wont, officialdom stepped in after the tragedy. “We are giving an Indira Awas (housing) unit and money under social security scheme to the family,” the District Magistrate of Banka, Mr Deepak Anand said.

He, however, strongly denied poverty had caused the tragedy.

Block Development Officer Rajkumar Sharma said the man was suffering from some ailments and poverty, adding that the administration had granted the family money for the last rites under Kabir Antayesi Yojana.

The level of poverty is appalling in Bihar; as per an official report, 1.40 crore families live below the poverty line in the state, which, if the average family size is assumed to be five people, would come to something like 70 per cent of Bihar’s total population of a little over 10 crore.

Sunday, October 14, 2012

Nitish Kumar: A story in constrast


Manoj Chaurasia in Patna

Contrast is only too stark to be perceived now. 

In his first term as the chief minister of Bihar, Nitish Kumar had fired one of his ministerial colleagues Jitan Ram Manjhi moments after he had taken the oath ~ even the portfolio had not been allotted to him ~ merely on the information that the man he had given the berth in his cabinet was an accused in the degree scam! Then he effected a massive reshuffle in the state administration, giving key postings to the honest and efficient officials and shunting out bureaucrats of questionable integrity. All these actions were on display shortly after Mr Kumar had taken oath as the new chief minister of Bihar, ending the 15-year-old rule of Lalu Prasad-led Rashtriya Janata Dal.  

Barely seven years into power, such “dare-devilry” seems to have become a thing of the past now as the NDA government that Mr Kumar heads in Bihar has come under fire for its questionable actions. Mr Kumar who earned the respect as an honest and upright politician is now being routinely accused, by the masses and his adversaries alike, of rewarding “inefficient” officials, victimising those launching crackdown on corrupts and publically praising leaders with criminal background. And, the Madhubani firing incident in which at least three youths were gunned down by the police who resorted to indiscriminate fire to quell an unruly protesting against police’s insensitivity to hand over body of the youth to the grieving family members, is only a pointer to the fact!

Following heavy protests by the protesting crowd who resorted to large-scale arson and violence on Friday to protest administrative high-handedness, the chief minister Mr Kumar ordered for immediate shifting of all the senior civil and police officials from the district, such as the district magistrate, superintendent of police and also inspector general of police, Darbhanga Range under which jurisdiction the entire incident took place, apparently holding them responsible for administrative lapses. 

Hours after they were given marching orders, two of the officials ~ IG Rakesh Kumar Mishra and SP Saurabh Kumar ~ were given promotions. Mr Mishra, however, said his promotion was long overdue, asserting that he had an impeccable track-record. "Never in my 26-year-long career, I compromised with ideals and professional ethics", said Mr Mishra, looking quite aggrieved at what was written about him in the local media in the aftermath of Madhubani firing incident. According to him , he has the distinction to serve at places like Kaimur, Nawada, Deoghar, Betia, Aurangabad, Jamshedpur and Bhagalpur (before proceeding on central deputation) in his long illustrious career. He has also been given three medals by the President of India ~ gallantry medal, meritorious medal and distinguished medal for his remarkable job, he informed. 

Right since the beginning, the police had been claiming that the headless body of the youth did not belong to that of "missing" youth Prashnat and the recovery of the boy has only vindicated the stand of the police. Mr Mishra said certain newspapers had carried factually incorrect reports about the recovery of the headless body which aroused public outcry leading to rioting in Madhubani as the police were forced to open fire on the unruly mob. 

The message has not gone down well even within the BJP, coalition partner, in the government. “Transfer is no punishment. The government will have to initiate severe actions against the erring officials to ensure faith of the common men is restored in the system”, remarked a BJP lawmaker Rameshwar Chaurasia. Another senior BJP leader and parliamentarian Bhola Singh went even more ballistic at the Nitish Kumar dispensation alleging that the government was totally unable to protect lives of the common men.

It was not the first time that the actions of the chief minister have come under question. Earlier, the chief minister had fired the excise minister Jamshed Ashraf merely after he spoke of a Rs 500 crore scam in the excise department and pointed his accusing fingers towards the then excise commissioner N Vijayalakshmi. Curiously, instead of initiating actions against the excise commissioner, the government sacked the minister itself! 

As of now, Mrs Vijayalakshmi, husband of a most powerful IAS official S Siddharth now secretary to the chief minister, is an agriculture secretary in the government. Her clout is underlined from the fact that she was asked to coordinate the function marked for the launching of agriculture roadmap of Bihar by the President Mr Pranab Mukherjee at the local SK Memorial Hall here on 3 October.

The role of the chief minister again came under question after his government suspended an IPS official Anusuiya Ransingh Sahu who as the SP of Sheikhpura district had launched a massive crackdown on mining mafia and lodged as many as 150 cases against the stone quarrying mafias between March and September this year and also busted a liquor racket. It is alleged the government acted under pressures from a particular caste who is said to be the traditional vote-bank of the NDA. According to the official, the DGP’s logic behind her suspension is classic ~ “illegal gratification by bodyguards in her name”. “If I can be punished for the faults committed by my subordinates, then why not the DGP on similar grounds?” she asks.

What is even stranger is the move of the chief minister to openly shield a criminal Ranvir Yadav who snatched a carbine from police and fired in the air to make way for Mr Kumar from the angry mob protesting against him during his visit to Khagaria district earlier this month. While the state administration has arrested persons protesting against the CM and sacked cops who failed to maintain law and order during CM’s visit to Khagaria town, the police have not initiated any action against Yadav who openly fired from a police carbine and even beat up the mob from lathis till date. As the government has virtually given a “clean chit” to Yadav, notorious husband of JD-U lawmaker Poonam Devi, a local resident had to register a case against him in the court of the chief judicial magistrate.

Curiously, the chief minister himself had publically praised the Yadav couple for his bid to “save” him and allow him address Adhikar rally there. Yet another move of the chief minister to stay in the house of Kaushal Yadav, a notorious gangster, in course of his Adhikar yatra at Nawada has not gone down well within the masses. During his earlier yatra, Mr Kumar had lunch at the residence of another alleged gangster Dhoomal Singh in Saran district.