June 7, 2019 - meraapnabihar

Ban private practice of Bihar government doctors, give allowance: IGIMS director

Source: dustantimes.com

With the Bihar government considering granting autonomy to some of its health facilities, director of the Indira Gandhi Institute of Medical Sciences (IGIMS) has advocated banning private practice of government doctors while granting autonomy to healthcare institutions for improved patient care.

The IGIMS, which is Bihar’s only autonomous medical institution, built on the pattern of the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), has achieved many milestones during the recent past. Seeing its success, the state government now wants to replicate the IGIMS model at five other healthcare institutions of Bihar.

Among the institutions being considered for grant of autonomy are the multi-specialty Patna Medical College Hospital (PMCH); the Indira Gandhi Institute of Cardiology (IGIC), a superspecialty centre for cardiology; Rajendra Nagar Government Hospital, a superspecialty centre for eyecare; Lok Nayak Jaiprakash Narayan Hospital, a superspecialty centre for orthopaedics; and the New Gardiner Road Hospital, a superspecialty centre for endocrinology and nephrology.

Bihar’s principal secretary, health, Sanjay Kumar, had recently said that the government was actively considering autonomy for five of its premier health facilities on the pattern of IGIMS.

Dr Nihar Ranjan Biswas, who belongs to the AIIMS-New Delhi and is on deputation to the IGIMS as its director, suggested that government doctors be given non-practising allowance (NPA) and should be available round the clock, as was the practice at AIIMS.

Dr Biswas had floated the idea of “full autonomy to medical institutions” in presence of health minister Mangal Pandey, speaker of the Bihar legislative assembly Vijay Kumar Choudhary and principal secretary, health, Sanjay Kumar, during a seminar on kidney transplant organised at the institute on May 26.

Sharing his recipe of success, Dr Biswas said, “Medical institutions should be granted full autonomy in the true sense. With autonomy, appointment of director as also selection of faculty members should be done through all-India competitions.”

Dr Biswas was also averse to the idea of extending free treatment to patients. “The government should subsidise the cost of treatment and diagnostic tests, but not make healthcare facilities available free of cost to patients,” he added.

Doctors were, however, divided on banning private practice in Bihar. While the Bihar Health Services Association (BHSA) supported giving doctors NPA and remuneration at par with the Centre, the Indian Medical Association (IMA), Bihar, opposed it, saying it should be “optional”.

“Government doctors should be given the choice whether they want to avail of NPA or not take it and do private practice. The decision to ban private practice should not be thrust upon all doctors. If doctors who do not opt for NPA were to resign, many government medical colleges will risk being derecognised by the Medical Council of India (MCI) due to faculty shortage,” said Dr Sahjanand Prasad Singh, immediate past president of IMA-Bihar.

Asked if that meant that doctors wanted to have the best of both worlds, Dr Singh said, “In a way, yes… but it will also benefit the state. Giving NPA and remuneration to all state government doctors at par with the Centre will be a huge burden on the state’s exchequer.”

BHSA general secretary Dr Ranjit Kumar said, “We have already given an undertaking to the government in 2007 that we want NPA. Private practice remains banned on paper after the government withdrew NPA from March 2001. However, a majority of government doctors continue to do private practice.”

Senior doctors of the two associations, on condition of anonymity, said that many doctors of AIIMS-Patna and IGIMS, all getting NPA, were continuing with their private practice due to poor implementation of rules.

The Bihar government had banned private practice and paid NPA to its doctors for a limited period of 11 months between March 1, 2000 and February 2001 before withdrawing NPA.

Bihar to waive off 50 per cent taxes levied on e-rickshawas

Source: newindianexpress.com

PATNA: Alarmed at growing rate of pollution, the state government’s seven departments have collectively prepared an integrated action plan to tame the menace of pollution in Patna and other cities.

According to a survey report of WHO, Bihar’s three cities namely Patna, Gaya and Muzaffarpur have been found to be among the most 20 polluted cities of world.

Speaking at a world environment day function on Wednesday evening, deputy chief minister of state Sushil Kumar Modi said that all possible steps are being taken to check the pollution in cities growing at an alarming rate.

“In a move to beat air pollution,the government has decided to waive 50% of total taxes levied on the purchase and running of battery-propelled e-rickshawas”, he said.

He further claimed that arrangements have been made to check the pollution emission from vehicles at over 500 fuel refilling centres in addition to run eco-friendly electric buses.

“On 45 fuel-refiling centres in Patna alone, arrangement has been made to issue online pollution check certificates in order to down the level of pollution”he said, adding that state government was committed to control the pollution through awarness among vehicle users and systems.

No MCI admission nod for Jharkhand’s 3 new medical colleges this year

Source: hindustantimes.com

The Medical Council of India (MCI) has denied permission to three newly set up medical colleges in Jharkhand, at Palamu, Hazaribagh and Dumka, to start academic sessions from 2019, citing faculty deficiency.

The state government had sought permission to start classes for 50 MBBS seats in each of the three medical colleges from the current session.

In the list released by the MCI for availability of MBBS seats in medical colleges across country, names of these three from Jharkhand are missing.

At present, the three medical colleges have only caretaker principals in the name of college administrator as well as faculty member.

While state’s health secretary Nitin Madan Kulkarni was available for comment, Dr Arun Kumar, superintendent of MGMMCH, who is the acting principal of Hazaribagh Medical College, said the permission was not granted for 2019 session due to 100% faculty deficiency.

“The college has all the infrastructure to begin operations, but no teachers. Appointment of faculty members is under progress,” he said.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi had inaugurated buildings of these three colleges constructed at a cost of Rs 885 crore on February 17 from Hazaribagh and the state government had promised that all three institutions would begin functioning from this July. The then union minister Jayant Sinha and chief minister Raghubar Das were also present on the occasion. The Prime Minister had also laid foundation of four 500-bed hospitals at Palamu, Dumka, Jamshedpur and Hazaribagh.

But even after four months of inauguration by Prime Minister, the state government has failed to appoint even a single teacher in all three medical colleges.

A senior official of state health department said that due to imposition of model code of conduct for parliamentary elections, the government’s hands were tied for three months from March to May, due to which appointment of faculty members in these medical colleges could not be done.

“By the time model code was lifted, the MCI deadline had ended,” the official said, requesting anonymity as the health secretary is himself dealing with the MCI on the issue.

The official said reluctance of doctors to join medical colleges of state had emerged as major hurdle in appointing teachers. On June 3, government had organised walk-in interviews for senior residents at Ranchi, but only 30% candidates turned up.

Onset of monsoon in Jharkhand likely by June 18

Source: hindustantimes.com

Jharkhand may expect the arrival of monsoon by June 18 as the southwest monsoon is likely to hit Kerala by June 8, weather officials said on Wednesday. Normal monsoon date for Jharkhand is June 10 and it should cover the state by June 15. However, it has never hit Jharkhand on the expected date since 2009.

The onset of monsoon in the state has been recorded between June 15 to June 25 in past one decade. In 2018, the southwest monsoon had hit Jharkhand on June 25, a delay of 15 days from its expected date, while it had hit Kerala on May 29, three days ahead of its normal date.

“Conditions are favourable for onset of monsoon in Kerala on Friday. If climatic conditions remain favourable with its current pattern, we may expect monsoon rain by June 17-18. However, it could be predicted only after it hits Kerala,” said SD Kotal, director of Ranchi Meteorological Centre. Even though the monsoon has been delayed by a week in India, a cyclonic circulation, which was over Jharkhand till Tuesday, brought relief from scorching heat across the state for last couple of days. Weather department said that excluding Palamu, maximum temperature was likely to get below 40 degree Celsius in most districts of the state.

The long-range forecast for monsoon, however, has worried farmers, as it has predicted 91% rainfall with possible deviation of 4% from June 1 to September 30 in northeast and eastern India.

“It’s a long-range forecast for the four-month monsoon, which may change after the onset,” Kotal said.

Farmers already faced drought in last kharif season due to deficient rainfall in last monsoon. In 2018, Jharkhand recorded 28% rainfall deficit during four-month monsoon period from June 1 to September 30, poorer than Bihar and West Bengal, which registered 25% and 20% deficit respectively.

The deficient rainfall impacted kharif crop in Jharkhand. The state government in November last year declared 129 blocks out of 264 blocks as drought affected. As many as 93 blocks were declared severely affected by drought due to poor sowing during rainy season last year.

Around 27% arable paddy land of the total target remained fallow. Of the 24 districts, sowing coverage could not reach 60% in seven districts even after the end of sowing season on August 15.

The centre released Rs 272 crore as drought relief to Jharkhand but the farmers are yet to get crop loss compensation. The poor monsoon had also impacted Rabi crops last year. Sowing coverage of Rabi crops was recorded in merely 7.58 hectares of land against the target of 11.69 lakh hectares this year.

Jharkhand government eyeing intellectual property rights for Peda and Sohrai

Source: newindianexpress.com

RANCHI: With the intention of claiming patents on Deoghar’s ‘peda’ and ‘Sohrai’ painting of Hazaribagh, the State Government has decided to conduct a research survey for guidance in establishing intellectual property rights and geographical indicators of Jharkhand, outsourcing the work to the National Law School of India in Bengaluru.

The State Cabinet on Tuesday sanctioned Rs 33.55 lakh for the purpose.

The Cabinet gave its approval for research, survey and filing application for the registration of Geographical Indication of Jharkhand and guiding in establishing intellectual property rights centre for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME).

Officials said that the survey will be focused on MSMEs and the research will help them get intellectual property rights over products.

The MSME Centre in Ranchi will function as the nodal office for this survey. The famous Deoghar peda and Hazaribagh Sohrai art and many other products and art forms of Jharkhand may also come under this survey,” Urban Development Secretary Ajay Kumar Singh told the media on Wednesday.

Peda is offered to Lord Shiva at Deoghar. As per an estimate, annual turnover of peda is around Rs 50 crore, with a remarkable increase during Shrawani Mela.

Sohrai painting, on the other hand, is an indigenous art form practised by the women, where ritualistic art is done on mud walls to welcome the harvest season and to celebrate cattle.

Musahar Family in Gaya Faces Boycott for Converting to Christianity

Source: newsclick.in

Sanjay Manjhi, a poor dalit man in his late 40s, and his family, have been facing social boycott for converting to Christianity. Manjhi is a resident of Shahpur village in Gaya district of Bihar and is facing boycott by the Musahar community to which he belongs.

Manjhi said that he and his family members were being targeted after they converted to Christianity. He alleged that the villagers who targeted them were instigated by local Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP) and Bajrang Dal activists from the neighbouring villages. “We patiently tolerated their attacks initially. They taunted us, harassed and even abused us for converting to Christianity. However, there were no problems until 10 days ago, as till then we had neither reacted nor protested,” he said.

Manjhi said last week he was forced to approach the police and file a complaint against the collective social boycott by villagers following a diktat from his own community panchayat. “Some people from my Musahar caste had managed to pass an order for our social boycott. Following the order, we were stopped from using the community well and the handpumps for water, and later some youths from the village disrupted our electricity supply. All of these were done on the behalf of some activists of VHP and Bajrang Dal to put pressure on us to re-convert,” he sid.

The Gaya district police was forced to rush to the village after Manjhi lodged a police complaint against over half a dozen villagers for alleged social boycott, harassment and threatening them.

Manjhi, a landless labourer like most Musahars in Shahpur village under Barachatti police station in Gaya ,told Newsclick that he and his family were singled out for converting to a different religion. “We Musahars are dalits who follow social and religious rituals similar to tribals. My family and I voluntarily converted to Christianity. What is the big deal about it, and why are some Hindutva organisations trying to threaten us? We were Hindus only by birth, we had been treated as untouchables all our lives and hardly enjoyed any respect or dignity.”

Backing him, Ranjeev Bhuiya, a local water-rights activist, said Manjhi’s family was barred from using water from the well and handpumps, adding that this was an attempt to put pressure on them at a time when the drought-hit Barachatti block in Gaya was facing its worst water scarcity.

Manjhi and Bhuiya belong to the dalit Musahar community, one of the most marginalised sections of society for centuries. They live with their families in thatched houses, built on gair-majarua (government-unclaimed) land because neither they, nor their fathers or grandfathers, owned any land. For generations, they have been earning their livelihood as landless agriculture labourers.

Manoj Kumar Singh, Station House Officer in charge of Barachatti police station, said Manjhi and his family were targeted after they refused to give donation (chanda) for a Musahar tribal puja, saying they had converted to Christianity. “This angered some villagers, who had ordered social boycott. After intervention from the police, the issue has been solved”.

Singh also denied the accusation of involvement of Bajrang Dal or VHP in the matter. “We have no information about it so far,” he added.

Kamlesh Manjhi, a local villager associated with Bajrang Dal, said the decision to boycott Sanjay Manjhi’s family was taken unanimously by the villagers. After police intervention, villagers have now decided to allow them to use the water sources but would stick to their social boycott.

Sanjay Manjhi said he had informed police officials that Bajrang Dal activists had threatened him and his family to reconvert to Hinduism if they wanted to live in the village.

A local police officer told Newsclick on the condition of anonymity that some members of Bajrang Dal, VHP, and others religious groups have been visiting the village and putting pressure on Musahar villagers to ensure that Sanjay Manjhi’s family reconverts soon. He said, “This village of Musahars has become an important focus for Hindutva outfits in recent days, thanks to Sanjay Manjhi’s conversion to Christianity”.

Gaya Senior Superintendent of Police Rajiv Mishra said he had asked local police station officials to regularly visit the village and reach out to Sanjay Manjhi. “We will not allow anyone to put pressure on him and his family to reconvert,” he added.

Teen’s death sparks tension in Bihar town; family says she was raped, killed

Source: hindustantimes.com

A 16-year-old girl’s death in Bihar’s Bhabua triggered tension in the town on Wednesday after her family alleged she was gang-raped and murdered by three men on Tuesday night.

The victim’s elder sister has accused three men of raping and killing her and filed a complaint at Bhagwanpur police station against two named and one unknown person belonging to a minority community.

Police, however, claimed that the girl has committed suicide and that the postmortem examination of her body has not confirmed rape.

“Prima facie, it seems to be a case of suicide due to a love affair. Police are investigating the case and trying to identify the people who have abetted the girl to end her life,” superintendent of police Dilnawaz Ahmad said.

The postmortem examination was conducted by a medical board at the district hospital in Bhabua and the body was sent to Varanasi for cremation under police protection on Wednesday.

The elder sister also alleged that Saish Ali, the son of Munnu Ansari from the adjacent village of Awasan, was dating the girl and often met her. She claimed her sister had revealed the names of two accused before she died. The girl had no reason to commit suicide as she had gone to the bank to withdraw money, the sister said.

The victim had gone to a bank in Bhabua on Tuesday morning. Her elder sister got a phone call in the evening from Ejaz Ansari alias Sonu, a resident of adjacent village Awasan who works as a nurse with a private hospital in Bhabua. Ansari told the sister that the girl was critical and admitted in the hospital he works for.

The elder sister rushed to the hospital but was asked to deposit Rs 4,000 towards the girl’s treatment before being allowed to meet her. She called a relative and arranged for the money. They also arranged for an ambulance to take away the girl to Varanasi but she died on the way around midnight.

“The accused had raped and poisoned my sister to destroy evidence. They admitted her in a private hospital without the knowledge of police and informed me at the eleventh hour when she was collapsing,” she alleged.

Nirmal Yadav, head of the victim’s village, said the girl’s parents work in Gujarat and left behind their two daughters at home.

Bihar seeks to redefine danger levels in its rivers

Source: hindustantimes.com

After a long time, the Bihar government is going to undertake a massive exercise to revise the danger mark level of all major rivers in the state to make flood-fighting work more effective and reduce chances of false alarm of impending floods in case of rivers in spate in flood-prone districts.

The Bihar State Disaster Management Authority has recommended the idea of redefining the danger level of all major as well as small rivers after a study done on the subject over the last one year.

Experts said the primary reason for revising the danger level of rivers in the state is siltation that has caused the river beds to rise, a reason why the current danger level of rivers measured decades back are not so accurate.

“As the river bed of all majority of rivers has risen over the past many decades due to siltation, the danger level indicators are not so accurate. It often leads to false alarm of impending floods when in reality the river is flowing much below the danger mark. So, a reassessment of the danger level of major rivers is imperative,” said Vyasji, vice-chairman of the state’s disaster management authority.

In Bihar, there are 12 major river basins, including Ganga, Mahananda, Kosi, Bagmati, Sone, Karamnasa, Kamla, Chandan and Gandak, besides a large number of small rivers and their tributaries.

Sources said the state’s disaster management authority had already directed the water resources department and written to the Central Water Commission ( CWC) to start the work, which is going to be a time-consuming exercise. Sources said the government had been given the time to complete the exercise in next couple of months so that the new system comes in place before the rivers go in spate in the state.

The gauge readings of rivers is different from one point to another.

Like in Patna district, the Ganga’s gauge reading is different at Hatihdha , Gandhi ghat and Digha, said Vyasji.

To elaborate, the highest flood level( HFL) of Ganga in Patna was 50.27 metres but was revised to 50.52 metres in 2016.

“The gauge readings are different at many points of rivers and it has to be examined based on different parameters. Besides, the siltation of the rivers will be also taken into account in assessing the danger mark,” he said.

Ganga and Kosi are the major rivers in the state facing heavy siltation and efforts have been made to reduce the sedimentation to lower the river bed.

Kosi deluge in 2008 was one of the worst disasters in the state’s flood history in recent decades. Various studies on river management have put emphasis on regular dredging to reduce the siltation and check floods.

Besides, the disaster management authority also believes the revision of danger mark level of all major rivers, including where barrages have come up, would help check instances of false alarm of floods.

Officials said the water resources department, the parent department responsible for flood management, would be able to make proper flood management plan in advance based on accurate data once the revision is done.

“Whenever a river gets swollen either due to heavy rains or heavy discharge from upstream, panic grips people residing nears the rivers and the administration also starts gearing up resources for flood fighting. But in reality, such alarms are false many a time. So a revision of danger mark of rivers is need of the hour,” said Vyasji.

Nalanda University’s crucial board meeting in Delhi on Thursday

Source: hindustantimes.com

Nalanda University (NU) is set to hold its first governing board (GB) meeting since February 2018 at its Delhi office on Thursday.

The 17th GB meeting is crucial as it will pave the way for shifting of academic activities to its upcoming sprawling 455-acre campus to the north of Rajgir hills, besides approving new proposals and reviewing ongoing admissions.

The varsity’s board was re-constituted in November 2016 with all new members. The lone member of the Nalanda Mentor Group (NMG) retaining his position and the Indian government’s representative in the new GB was former Rajya Sabha Member of Parliament N K Singh, presently chairman of the 15th finance commission.

In January 2017, the university also got a new Chancellor in Dr Vijay Bhatkar, following the resignation of George Yeo on November 25 in the wake of dissolution of NMG. In May, Prof Sunaina Singh also took over as the new vice-chancellor.

Set up in 2014 to recreate the glory and academic excellence of ancient Nalanda and serve as an intellectual bridge between India and East Asia, the NU witnessed a flurry of activities in 2016-17, which led to a complete change of guard.

There were also reports of faculty attrition in NU, but the V-C played it down, saying it was nothing abnormal.

“Some people have left as their term ended, others left as they got better avenues in locations of their choice, while there were also those who found it tough to continue in the disciplined atmosphere that we are striving to enforce on the campus. We have enough faculty members of quality for our schools and new ones are also coming in,” said V-C Sunaina Singh, who took over in the wake of sexual harassment slur on the NU.

However, the biggest plus for NU is that it is now set to move to its campus. Former President Pranab Mukhejee had laid the foundation stone of the campus on August 27, 2016.

“The work is on schedule and the first phase comprising five main buildings has been completed. The campus, likely to be fully ready by 2020, will go beyond the highest green building features as per government guidelines, i.e. a rating of 5 under GRIHA. We plan to start teaching this year itself from the new campus, as adequate facilities are ready now,” said the VC.

At present, NU has four schools, but a few new centres are in the pipeline, including one on the Bay of Bengal Studies, which was announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi while addressing the member states of the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) at Katmandu on August 31, 2018.

The Government of India would also cover 30 scholarships to member states (Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Myanmar, Nepal, Sri Lanka, and Thailand) to conduct research on Bay of Bengal region at the NU. Another centre in the offing is on sustainable development.

At present, admissions in NU is on and the first cycle has been completed, while the second cycle is set to begin.

NU also plans to start Ph.D programmes from this year, which was earlier approved by the academic council.

Bihar: A Muslim Youth Was Brutally Beaten Up & Allegedly Forced to Drink Urine; The Police Arrested Him

Source: newscentral24x7.com

Katihar, Bihar: It has been almost a month since the incident but 25-year-old Saddam Hussain’s injuries haven’t healed. He shows the marks on his back and says, “Where is justice, sir? Where is it? The Constitution talks about justice but a poor person cannot get justice. 20 days ago, the goons tied me up and thrashed me with hammers and iron rods. When I was thirsty, they forced me to drink urine. And when the police came, what did they do? I was taken to Manihari police station and locked up. I was writhing in pain and begging them to take me to a hospital.”

Since being released from custody, Saddam spends most of his time on a cot in his house in Naya Tola village in Manihari. The injuries on his back and legs still look fresh.

In the din of election, many stories were lost. Saddam’s story is one of them. On May 10, some local goons abducted Saddam and brutally beat him up, and allegedly even forced him to drink urine. Motive — a land dispute. Both sides filed FIRs against each other and the police arrested one person from each side. Saddam was arrested for allegedly setting fire to his attackers’ house.

His mother, Nargis Fatima, tells us, “Saddam has opened a clinic nearby. On that morning, he had come home to fetch a syringe. He was returning to the clinic when those men kidnapped him. They took him to their house and thrashed him brutally.”

She shows a torn, blood stained pair of jeans. “I’ve kept a roza, I can’t lie. The son of Feku Karmakar (the second party to the land dispute) hit me with a lathi twice. He hit me on such a place on my body that I couldn’t even show it to anybody. I was screaming but the police didn’t let me see my son.”

Saddam says that after he was assaulted, he was picked up by the police and detained at the Manihari police station. When his condition started deteriorating, he was taken to the sub divisional hospital which referred him to the Sadar Hospital, Katihar.

Saddam’s cousin, Mohammad Wasim (25), shows pictures on his mobile phone and says, “Saddam was in the hospital for four days. He was handcuffed by the police for all of those days. When he recovered, he was arrested and locked up again. What is justice when the victim is arrested and the criminals roam freely?”

Wasim, who works as a labourer in Delhi’s Palam area, adds, “This land dispute dates 12 years. For the last three years, during the month of Ramzan, these people beat up someone in our family. This time, Saddam was targeted. When I was barely 14 years old, they lodged a malicious FIR and I was jailed. I’ve been witnessing this dispute since then. The administration appears to discriminate on religious basis each time. A false case is registered against us even before we can go file a complaint at the police station. Where do we go?”

Saddam Hussain’s father Abdul Sattar (52) has four brothers — Abdul Razzak (55) is the eldest and Abdul Rauf (50) and Abdul Sobhan (40). 50 years ago, their father Izabul Haq had purchased 66 dismil land in Naya Tola Bahadurpur from Nandkishore Dubey and Sudama Dubey. Since then, they have been paying land tax and getting receipts for the same

Abdul Rauf explians, “The Dubey family left after selling the land. Then, during a survey, it was found that the land was 99 dismil and not 66. We thought that 66 dismil is ours, the remaining 33 should be left vacant for the Dubey family for when they return. Why should we be dishonest. For the remaining land, we even got the receipts issued once so that their land is safe. But in 2007, matters got complicated. When we go to get another receipt issued in Nandkishore Dubey’s name, the official told us that the land has been reduced by 14 dismil. When I asked why, he said that a Basgit parcha ( which is issued by the Collector to a landless person as per the rules laid down in the Bihar Privileged Persons Homestead Tenancy Act 1948) had been issued on this.”

He adds, “We asked in whose name the Basgit parcha has been issued. He said Feku Karmkar, Baijnath Karmkar, Dilip Karmkar and a temple. When we inquired about this at the block level, there was no record of this Basgit parcha. They’ve managed to get a fake parcha issued but it does not mention the boundary. It only mentions the boundary for two sides, there is nothing written for the boundary on the remaining sides.”

Abdul Razzak says, “To avoid any trouble, we filed a title suit in 2007 itself. We had all the evidence then. We even recorded our statements in the court. We asked the Karmakar family to present their evidence in the court but in 12 years, they haven’t managed to submit any receipts. Now, they are forcibly constructing houses on even our land. How can we let this happen?”

Multiple cases related to this dispute have been registered at the Manihari and Amdabad police stations against Saddam’s family. Local administration has been unable to resolve the matter.

Rauf further says, “We don’t want to go to the police station to file a complaint because whenever we go, they lodge an FIR against us only,” adding, “You can see the pattern in the serial number of the FIRs. If the FIR filed by me is serial no. 65, then their FIR would say serial no.66…If mine is 151, theirs will be 152. Meaning — a counter case for each case we file. Sometimes, when we reach the police station to file a complain, we find that an FIR has already been lodged against us and the police arrests us immediately. Hence, now we will file a court case only. We no longer have any faith in the administration.”

However, the Karmakar family puts the blame on the Saddam’s family. Baijnath Karmakar says, “The claim of making him drink urine is completely false. At 8-9 am in the morning, how can one be thirsty? These people have been troubling us since 2007. They even hurl stones at our house.”

When we asked him about submitting evidence in court, he said, “What evidence can we give for a Basigat parcha. The government says that we give the land for you to live on it, not for fighting legal battles. We are only following up on the title suit that they (Saddam’s family) have filed.”

NewsCentral24x7 contacted Manihari police station. Officials there said that the matter is entirely that of a land dispute. There is no mention of the urine incident. The FIR has been lodged on the basis of the victim’s statement only. We even arrested one person from each side. The matter has been hyped up.

However, Saddam disagrees. He says that his statement was not recorded when he was in the hospital. The police had already prepared an FIR and he was made to only sign it. “I am asserting repeatedly that injustice has been done to me. But when the police arrests the victim, what is left to say? What justice should I expect now. This is not justice, sir. This is is not justice.”