Month: September 2019

Modi govt again considering merging rail, roads, aviation, shipping into transport ministry

Source: theprint.in

New Delhi: The Modi government, in its second tenure, is once again considering having a unified transport ministry through combining the road, railways, civil aviation and shipping ministries, officials familiar with the matter told ThePrint.

A top panel of secretaries, constituted by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to recommend transformative ideas for the infrastructure sector, discussed the unified transport ministry idea with the cabinet secretary last month.

“We have recommended that the way forward is a unified transport ministry to provide integrated multi-modal solutions,” one senior official who did not want to be named said.

The secretarial panel is likely to make a presentation before the Prime Minister soon. “A final call on whether to go ahead with the recommendation will be taken only after the meeting with the PM,” the official added.

An omnibus transport ministry is not a new concept. Countries such as China already have it — the country’s Ministry of Transport is mandated to make regulations for road, railways, water and air transportation. Cities like New York and London have a single body to govern public transport.

‘Need for co-ordinated approach’

The panel on infrastructure, headed by aviation secretary P.S. Khairola, has also recommended that the role of the existing aviation regulator — Airports Economic Regulatory Authority — could be expanded to cover the entire transport sector.

As of now, close to half-a-dozen central ministries, including roads, railways, housing, civil aviation and shipping cater to the transport sector. Almost all of them work in isolation, with minimal or no coordination with each other.

“The idea is to have some kind of coordinated planning while setting up a road, railway line or airport,” said a road ministry official privy to the matter. “Presently, all the sectors are working in silos. A coordinated approach will not only improve efficiency but will also go a long way in cutting costs.”

The official added that it is one of the recommendations made by the group of secretaries on infrastructure. “Nothing has been decided on what will be its structure. Whether it will be an omnibus ministry of transport or an integrated transport planning body that will decide on projects and investment to be made in the sector.”

Citing an example, another senior official working in one of the infrastructure ministries said, “Suppose an airport is being planned in a remote area. An integrated approach could help in planning a rail or road linkage to connect to the airport.”

Not the first time

This, however, isn’t the first time that an ‘omnibus transport ministry’ idea has come up.

In 2014, the National Transport Development Policy Committee, chaired by former RBI governor Rakesh Mohan, had in its report recommended setting up a single unified transport ministry.

The report batted for a unified ministry of transport at the Centre with a similar merger of transport functions at the state level.

But not much came of it.

Union Road Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari has in the past five years spoken about the need to have an integrated, multimodal transport planning body to increase efficiency, in numerous public fora.

In fact, in its first term, the government had set up an infrastructure committee headed by Gadkari to address bottlenecks that were stalling big-ticket infrastructure projects. Besides Gadkari, ministers from the railways, shipping, petroleum among others were part of the committee.

The idea to have an omnibus transport ministry elicits a strong response from transport sector experts. While some experts feel that it’s about time that India too has a unified transport ministry, many think that it is “unimplementable”.

Former Railway Board chairman Arunendra Kumar said that this kind of a merger is not a good idea. “It will be difficult to implement,” Kumar said. “Take for instance railways. It’s a huge setup and demands a high degree of specialisation and resources. The entire machinery is well oiled. I don’t think unification is required. It will only add to the red tape.”

However, a road ministry official who did not want to be named said that the integration being proposed will not be at the “operational” level but at the level of planning and investment.

“We have limited resources. Private investment is dwindling,” he said. “In a situation like this, an integrated approach will go a long way in planning and using the available resources judiciously.”

Flood alert for UP, Bihar as river waters rise over next few days

Source: livemint.com

New Delhi: Even as parts of north and eastern India remain rain deficit this monsoon season, increased rain over neighbouring Nepal could spell trouble for some districts in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, where the river levels are likely to rise during the next few days.

In its latest forecast, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) has stated that enhanced rainfall in Nepal till Wednesday could lead to a rise in the water levels in rivers in East Uttar Pradesh and Bihar over the next three days. This could lead to flooding of some of the low-lying areas along the banks of Yamuna and Ganga.

The Central Water Commission (CWC) has sounded a flood alert for all the districts in Bihar along the course of river Ganga from Buxar to Bhagalpur and districts in Uttar Pradesh downstream of Yamuna till its confluence with Ganga at Allahabad. “A close watch needs to be maintained all along the course of the rivers,” stated CWC in its latest update.

Yamuna has been rising due to continuous releases from reservoirs in Chambal, Ken, Betwa and Sone Basins in Madhya Pradesh, which has received excess rains this monsoon season. It is flowing in Severe Flood Situation in districts of Etawah, Auraiya, Hamirpur, Jalaun, Prattappur in Uttar Pradesh and is likely to cross the Danger mark in Allahabad on Wednesday.

The rainfall has been excess in West Madhya Pradesh to the tune of 54%.

This would further impact the flow in Ganga which is also expected to rise all along its course from Allahabad to Patna in Bihar over the next four days. Some of the other rivers which could rise include- Kosi, Gandak, Bagmati and Narayani.

On the eastern front, river Brahmaputra too is flowing in Severe Flood Situation in Jorhat district of Assam, due to heavy rain in the catchment areas.

Both Uttar Pradesh and Bihar have witnessed deficient rains to the tune of at least 20% each, despite an excess of 4% monsoon rains over the country this season. The deficit has been much more pronounced in neighbouring Jharkhand, where some districts are facing drought-like conditions. As on September 11, only northwest and eastern states of the country remain rain-deficit in the country.

The withdrawal of the monsoon is delayed yet again this season. Normally it begins to withdraw from the West Rajasthan around September 1.

NCW chief to meet Nitish Kumar, Bihar DGP as Muzaffarpur ‘horror home’ inmate is raped

Source: theprint.in

New Delhi: National Commission for Women (NCW) chief Rekha Sharma will meet Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and the state’s director general of police (DGP) to discuss the alleged rape last week of a former inmate of the Muzaffarpur shelter where an abuse scandal was uncovered last year.

Sharma told ThePrint that she and her team will visit the state Thursday to take up the increasing incidence of crime in Bihar with the DGP and the CM.  

The 18-year-old victim had been living with her family since July last year, after leaving the shelter for destitute women where dozens of inmates were allegedly subjected to sexual abuse. She was reportedly on her way to a relative’s house in Bihar’s West Champaran district last Friday when four men pulled her into an SUV and raped her.

A video of the victim, seen in a niqab, detailing the crime has since gone viral. Latest reports suggest four arrests have been made in connection with the case.

Sharma said she will meet the teenager who had suffered the “horrific incident”.

“First, she suffered in the shelter home, then she had to go through this harassment… What kind of protection is she being given?” Sharma added.

“The NCW has been receiving increasing complaints from Bihar about violence against women — something needs to be done about this,” she said.

“I think the primary reason behind this is police apathy in the state. They don’t take women seriously, they unnecessarily delay filing the FIR,” she told ThePrint. “I will discuss all these matters with the state’s DGP.”

The Muzaffarpur shelter home

The Muzaffarpur sexual abuse scandal came to light after the Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS) found in an audit that over 30 girls had been allegedly raped and assaulted at a state-funded shelter for destitute women and girls. Shelter owner Brajesh Thakur, who also ran a newspaper, has since been jailed.

In February 2019, the Supreme Court ordered the case to be transferred from Bihar to a Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) court in Delhi.

Union Minister Prahlad Singh Patel inaugurates the exhibition ‘Shashwat Maharathi : The Eternal Seeker’ on Chitracharya Upendra Maharath

Source: indiaeducationdiary.in

New Delhi: Union Minister of State for Culture& Tourism (Independent Charge), Shri Prahlad Singh Patel inaugurated the exhibition ‘Shashwat Maharathi : The Eternal Seeker’ on Chitracharya Upendra Maharath at newly renovated Jaipur House in National Gallery of Modern art New Delhi today. The Exhibition showcases more than 1000 works of art, design, and woven objects of art by Chitracharya Upendra Maharathi. Exhibition will be remained open for general public from 11:00 am to 6:00 pm Tuesday to Friday. On weekends people can visit exhibition till 8:00 pm.

Speaking on the occasion, the Minister congratulated NGMA for beautiful restoration of Jaipur House. He also appreciated the Exhibition ‘Eternal Seeker’ which is showcasing magnificent work of Shri Chitracharya Upendra Maharath.

The show of paintings, drawings, murals sculptures, woven cloths and chairs all point to the zenith of his creativity. His interest in Buddhism brought forth many designs that were inspired by Buddhist ideology. The installations in the retrospective have been designed by DG, NGMA Adwaita Gadanayak. The Exhibition has been curated by Adwaita Gadanayak and his team.

Maharathi was author of many books too, The Book on bamboo art, “Venushilpa” was among the best. Vaishali ke Lichhvi (The Lichhvi dynasty of Vaishali), Bouddha Dharma ka Abbhuthan (The Rise of Buddhism), Indragupta were some of the other memorable works.

Following the tradition of ancient art of sculpture, he designed many noted buildings : Venuban Viharin Rajagriha, Sandarbh Vihar, Ananda Stupa, Prakrit and Jainology Institute at Vaishali, Nava Nalanda Maha Vihar at Nalanda, etc. of great interest is the outer facade of the Nalanda Railway Station, are among those specially designed at the exhibition at Jaipur House .

Born in the village Narendrapur, Puri district in Orissa, in May 1908, Maharathi finished from the Govt College of Art, Kolkata, as an artist cum architect. In later years he came to Patna in Bihar. From 1933 to 1942 he advocated a literary-cultural revival as he worked in the publishing house, “Pustak Bhandar”, in Laharyasari, Darbhanga. In 1942, he was appointed a special designer in the Department of Industry, Govt of Bihar. In 1954, he visited Japan to attend the UNESCO International conference as representative of India.

‘Hindustan Poorvoday’: Amit Shah to deliver roadmap for turning east into India’s growth engine

Source: hindustantimes.com

Home Minister Amit Shah, law minister Ravi Shankar Prasad, Jharkhand Chief Minister Raghuvar Das and Deputy Chief Minister of Bihar Sushil Kumar Modi along with other regional politicians and achievers will come together in Ranchi on Wednesday to dwell on a roadmap for transforming the east and making its states, including Jharkhand and Bihar, the new engines of Indian economy.

The one day brainstorming session, being organised under the banner of ‘Hindustan Poorvoday’, will also see these leaders exchange views on the eastern states’, particularly, mineral-rich Jharkhand’s present contributions to the Indian economy and its potential to increase it manifolds in the near future.

The event will be inaugurated by the Union Minister for Law and Justice, Communications and Electronics and Information Technology, Ravi Shankar Prasad at 10 am at the local Radison Blue hotel. He will present his views on the economic opportunities and challenges for Bihar and Jharkhand. Home Minister Amit Shah will make the valedictory address incorporating the growth roadmap for these states.

Jharkhand Chief Minister Raghuvar Das will throw light on the contributions made by the state in India’s overall development.

Jharkhand Congress chief Dr. Rameshwar Oraon and former Chief Minister and Jharkhand Mukti Morcha’s (JMM) Working President Hemant Soren will present his views on the need to protect the natural resources–waters, jungles and the land– of the state while pushing it along the developmental path. The tribal societies of the eastern states and their needs and challenges will also be discussed.

The daylong event will also see achievers from different walks of the society, including sports, talk about the eastern state’s appetite to throw up sporting talent, who regularly shine on the national and the international stage.

The event will also see several ordinary men from Jharkhand getting felicitated for their extraordinary deeds. The sons of the soil to be honoured during the event include Dilip Ravidas, head of a Panchayat in Jharkhand’s Hazaribagh district, whose efforts for water conservation won him praise by none other than Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his ‘Man ki Baat’ radio address.

Ravidas says prime minister’s recognition for his campaign for water conservation has energised his entire village where the government buildings, schools and healthcare centres have been drawn into water conservation efforts under the guidance of government officials.

Jharkhand’s Garwah resident Brajesh will be felicitated for scripting a success story out of horticulture against everyone’s advise. His techniques, to be patented soon, have received praise from agriculture scientists and fellow farmers alike. Rameshwar from Ormanjhi block in Ranchi was the leader of a group of villagers, who pooled their resources and labour to construct a check dam to collect water flowing downhill. Rameshwar will also be awarded during the event. National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (Nabard) recognised farmer Hema Devi, a resident of Deoghar district in Jharkhand, who will also be felicitated for adopting modern farming techniques and later teaching fellow women how to successfully transform their lives by forming cooperatives. Ravidas, Rameshwar, Hema Devi and Brajesh will be joined by several others who will be recognised at the event for inspiring entire communities with their enterprise and never say die spirit.

One dead, 7 injured as leopard goes on rampage in Jharkhand village

Source: hindustantimes.com

A panicked leopard went on rampage in a Jharkhand village on Monday morning killing one woman and injuring seven others, forest officials said.

The attack took place in Pakur district’s Nashipur village under Maheshpur block. A team of forest officials reached the village but faced an uphill task to capture the leopard in absence of its experts and a tranquilliser.

“The leopard entered the village early in the morning and killed one Sonamoni Tudu, 65, who had gone to collect mushrooms in her farm field. Leopard bites were found on her neck and shoulder,” said Anil Kumar Singh, forest range officer, Pakur.

Singh, who is camping in the village, said the villagers with sticks and other weapons tried to capture the animal in the morning but the panicked leopard injured seven of them.

“Six people were sent to Maheshpur hospital for treatment while one Stephen Hansda,40, who is serious, was referred to PMCH, Dhanbad,” Singh said.

Forest officials gave away Rs 25,000 to Tudu’s kin for final rites and Rs 25,000 to Hansda for treatment. As per the forest department’s rule, a compensation of Rs 4 lakh is given if one dies in a man-animal conflict.

Singh said, “The village crowd is posing trouble in driving away the animal. If need arises, we will impose section 144 to keep the situation under control.”

Singh said houses in the village were scattered and there were farm fields in between the houses where the leopard was hide and seek.

“Since we neither had tranquilliser nor its expert to capture the leopard, we have sought guidelines from the divisional forest officer,” he said.

Villagers said this was the first incident of killing by leopard in the village in recent years. One such incident took place a year back at Agua hill, which is located five kilometer away from the village, a villager said.

The forest officials said the leopard might have come from the Agua hill where forest cover was degrading for past few years. The animal might have deviated from its route and entered the village.

State wildlife board member DS Srivastava said, “Santhal region has good population of leopards. With tree cover degrading in the region, now they are coming out of the forest and entering villages in search of food.”

Happy birthday PM Modi; here are some messages from those affected by Sardar Sarovar

Source: downtoearth.org.in

Prime Minister Narendra Modi celebrates his birthday on September 17. Unsurprisingly, his choice of venue is the Sardar Sarovar dam and the nearby statue of Vallabhbhai Patel. He spent the morning visiting the control room of the dam on the Narmada after “worshipping” the river. The water level at the dam reservoir was raised to 138.68 metres — the full reservoir level (FRL) — on the occasion.

Not all seemed thrilled:

  • Anti-dam activists were scheduled to protest at Barwani.
  • Several families were evacuated to tin sheds as their homes were to submerge.
  • Those left behind are living on islands
  • Sown fields are now under water
  • More than 30,000 families living in the submergence zone faced displacement and loss of livelihood, according to Narmada Bachao Andolan (NBA).

Many distressed people in the submergence areas in Dhar, Barwani, and Alirajpur districts in Madhya Pradesh have already held up their grievances.

And they have a thing or two to say if the PM would listen.

‘Visit our villages’

If he can fly abroad so much, why can’t he visit a village in doob kshetra (submergence area)? asked Gangabai Patidar of Nisarpur. Her home was marked for submergence at 138 m; at 136 m, the water was at her door, she said.

Some 1,200 families there were declared out of danger but the village was sinking.

“The water has filled our streets, it comes up to our door steps but these homes are considered out of doob kshetra. How do we step out and commute? Are we supposed to fly?” asked Gangabai. 

Suresh Patidar, also from Nisarpur, found Modi’s recent tweet hardselling the area as a tourist destination, insensitive. “192 villages are starving, dying, and drowning; hardly anyone has received rehabilitation benefits they are entitled to. All the PM is concerned about is filling the dam’s reservoir before his birthday,” he said. A lack of media attention added insult to his injury.

Shyamabai of Pichodi village, a few kilometres from Barwani town, invited Modi to a public discussion with the oustees, underscoring that with the land drowned, farmers, fisherfolk and potters were starving.

“You forcibly evicted us from our homes and filled them with water. And then, you’re celebrating your birthday as so many humans suffer and animals die,” she said.   

‘Minister of a state’

In Kadmal (Dhar district), another sinking village, residents tried to protest in the few areas some not yet under water. They were on a chain hunger strike.

“People are getting ill, contracting infections because of the dirty water entering our streets,” said Ashutosh Radheshyam Sen, one of those on strike. He blamed the governments of Madhya Pradesh and the Centre for trying to “please” the Gujarat government: “The PM should think about the entire country, not just one state.”

“We want officials to come here, see our reality and complete rehabilitation and resettlement equitably,” said Ashutosh, a journalist who also owns a shop that is now submerged.

“Anyone who tried to move the (Sardar Sarovar) project was projected the saviour of Gujarat. But PM Modi seems to have taken the game to a new level to show that he completed it,” said Shripad Dharmadhikary, an activist and researcher.

“Even as chief minister of Gujarat, Modi went on dharna (demonstration) for the completion of this project, ignoring checks the then government wanted to put in place on humanitarian grounds,” he alleged.

“Work on the dam was stalled until 2014 because rehabilitation was incomplete. But when he became PM in 2014, permission to increase the height of the dam was granted in 15 days,” Dharmadhikary added.

Pointing out at an incomplete canal system, he called the closing of the dam gates a show of power. That MP now has Congress-led government, made the situation worse, according to him.

Himanshu Upadhyaya from Azim Premji University advised the PM to “keep in mind that the water storage in this dam has been achieved at huge social costs borne by people upstream in the submergence zone as well as those downstream in Narmada, Vadodara and Bharuch districts — whose land is eroded by intense flash floods created by dam authorities.”

These aspects can only be forgotten “when one is obsessed with PR” and with the “perfect visual appeal” created by an overflowing dam, he warned. 

‘Gujarat farmers not thrilled either’

In 2002, Ramsingh Chattarsingh Solanki of Rajghat village (in the submergence area in Barwani) moved to Gujarat as he was allotted land in Kesrol village in Bharuch district. But it was infertile and uncultivable, he alleged.

“The Gujarat government cheated us. We moved back to our old village and now this is drowning,” the 82-year-old man said.

Thousands of acres of agricultural land downstream in Bharuch, Narmada, and Vadodara districts in Gujarat was getting destroyed, said Kamlesh S Madhiwala, president of fishers’ collective Samast Bharuch Jilla Machhimar Samaj.

“Crops ready for harvest drowned. Gujarat did benefit, but the water distribution has been mismanaged. Farmers don’t have water, but companies never face a shortage. Seems the dam’s water is primarily for them,” he said.

“Despite the dam getting the lion’s share of central funding under ‘Accelerated irrigation Benefit Programme’, successive Gujarat governments have failed to prioritise development of the canal network,” alleged Upadhyaya.

Figures in the government’s own Socio-economic Surveys show a shortfall between irrigation potential created and utilised. The ad hoc command area development plans and half-hearted implementation of participatory irrigation management were to be blamed too, he added. 

‘SSP, we have a problem’

According to the Narmada Control Authority’s daily updates, the Bargi reservoir and the Indira Sagar Project reservoir upstream were almost full. Any sudden release of water from the two reservoirs upstream could lead to flash floods. This is compounded by tremors felt in more than 12 villages along the banks of the Narmada.

“This is the time to generate power at full capacity. Technically that’s the way to operate the dam so that floods can be controlled, not aggravated,” said Vijay Paranjpye, water expert and chairman of Gomukh Environmental Trust For Sustainable Development, Pune. He was concerned about potential shock release of water and said water should have been released:

“It is more important for the Gujarat government and the authority to protect lives rather than celebrate someone’s birthday.”

100-bed cancer centre in each division

Source: newagebd.net

The executive committee of the National Economic Council on Tuesday approved a project involving Tk 2,388.40 crore to set up a 100-bed full-fledged cancer centre in each government medical college hospital in every divisional city.

The ECNEC cleared a total of eight projects with an estimated cost of Tk 8,968.08 crore.

The approval came from an Ecnec meeting held at the NEC conference room with ECNEC chairperson and prime minister Sheikh Hasina in the chair.

‘Today, the meeting approved eight projects and the estimated cost of the project is Tk 8,968.08,’ said planning minister MA Mannan while briefing reporters after the meeting.

Of the cost, Tk 8,952.59 crore will come from the national exchequer, while the rest 15.49 crore from the funds of the agencies concerned, he said.

Of the approved projects, five are new and the remaining three are revised ones.

The planning minister said the Directorate General of Health Services will implement ‘Establishment of 100-bed Full-fledged Cancer Centre in Government Medical College Hospital in Divisional City’ project.

The project will be implemented from October 2019 to September 2022.

The remaining four new projects are ‘Mymensingh (Raghurampur)-Fulpur-Nakla-Sherpur (R-371) Regional Highway Development’ project involving Tk 855.49 crore, ‘ Upgrading pavement of the Bindur Mor-Biman Bandar-Naohata Bridge portion of Rajshahi-Naohata-Choumasia Road into four-lane’ with Tk 326.87 crore, ‘Construction of Rahonpur-Monakasha 400-KV Transmission Line in Chapainawabganj for importing electricity from Jharkhand of India to Bangladesh’ with Tk 225.49 crore, and ‘Research on Prevention and Control of Zoonosis and Transboundary Animal Diseases’ with Tk 150.42 crore.

The three revised projects are ‘Ashrayan-2 Project’ (3rd revised) involving with the cost of Tk 4,826.16 crore, ‘Widening Upashahor Mor-Sonadighi and Malopara Mor-Sagorpara Mor roads in Rajshahi city’ (2nd revised) project with Tk 126.40 crore, and ‘Strengthening Monitoring and Evaluation Capabilities of IMED (SMECI)’ (3rd revised) project with Tk 65.85 crore.

The minister said the implementation rate of Annual Development Programme was 4.48 per cent in the first two months (July-August) of the current fiscal year, which is higher than 3.49 per cent in the same period of the last fiscal year.

He said the ADP expenditure is Tk 9,626 crore till August in 2019-20 fiscal year, which was Tk 6,318 crore in the same two months of 2018-19 fiscal year. 

BPSC Recruitment 2019: Registration for Assistant engineer begins at bpsc.bih.nic.in, how to apply

Source: hindustantimes.com

Bihar Public Service Commission has invited online applications for the post of assistant engineer (mechanical and civil). The online registration process has begun from today, September 16 and the last date to apply is September 26.

After registering themselves, candidates will have to wait for next day to apply online. The last date to apply online is October 4. Last day to pay the application fee is September 30. Candidates will have to pay the application fee when they register themselves for the recruitment.

Educational qualification:

Candidates should have an engineering degree from an AICTE approved University.

Age limit:

For general class candidates, the minimum age required is of 21 years and maximum age limit extends to 37 years for male candidates and 40 years for female candidates respectively.

In case of candidates belonging to reserved category the minimum age limit is of 21 years and the maximum age limit extends to 40 years for candidates (both male and female) under BC/OBC and 42 years for candidates (both male and female) under SC/ST.

How to apply:

Visit the official website at bpsc.bih.nic.in

Click on the ‘Apply online’ tab on the left side of the homepage

Click on the link that reads ‘BPSC Online Application’

Click on the ‘apply’ link provided beside “Assistant Engineer” recruitment given at the bottom of the page

An application form will open

Fill in the required information asked in the form correctly and proceed

After you have registered, you will have to pay registration fee

You will be able to apply online from the next day after the registration process is done. The link to apply will be activated at 11 am. 

Upload your signature and photograph clearly and proceed.

You will get an acknowledgement on registered email ID and phone number.

Keep your login ID and password safe. It will be required to login in future.

Click here to apply online

Click here for official notification for Assistant Engineer (Civil)

Click here for official notification for Assistant Engineer (Mechanical)

Exam pattern:

For Mechanical department:

Compulsory exam:

•General English (100 marks)

•General Hindi (100 marks)

•General Studies (100 marks)

•General Engineering sciences (100 marks)

Optional exam:

•Mechanical engineering part 1 (100 marks)

•Mechanical engineering part 2 (100 marks)

For Civil Department:

Compulsory exam:

•General English (100 marks)

•General Hindi (100 marks)

•General Studies (100 marks)

•General Engineering sciences (100 marks)

Optional exam:

•Civil engineering part 1 (100 marks)

•Civil engineering part 2 (100 marks)

The exam would be objective in nature. General English and Hindi paper are qualifying in nature.

Owaisi-led AIMIM to contest on all seats in 2020 Bihar assembly polls

Source: hindustantimes.com

The Asaduddin Owaisi-led All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) has decided to expand its base in Bihar. The party is so far confined to Seemanchal region.

“To help Bihar come out of the sad state of affairs, the party following instructions from Asaduddin Owaisi has decided to field candidates in constituencies going for by-polls and contest on all seats for 2020 assembly elections. The party believes that AIMIM can provide a new political equation, which the state needs,” said Akhtarul Imaan, party’s Bihar unit president.

The party had contested on six seats – Kocha Daman, Kishanganj, Raniganj, Baisi, Amour and Balrampur – in the Bihar assembly elections in 2015, mostly in Seemanchal region, but met with no success. Imaan had contested from Kocha Daman constituency. The Seemanchal region accounts for 24 constituencies. But the party decided to field only six candidates.

Imaan is a former member of Bihar assembly. He was earlier with the Janata Dal-United and the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD). He had also unsuccessfully contested from Kishananj constituency in the last Lok Sabha polls. The seat was won by Congress and AIMIM came third with 26.58% of total votes polled.

Owaisi during his last visit to Seemanchal region had said that his party would be making a beginning in Bihar. The Hyderabad lawmaker said his party was aware of its limitations and hence decided to contest a limited number of seats.

“It is clear that even after 72 years of independence, minorities, Dalits and backwards of Bihar have not got legitimate rights. It is a matter of shame that Bihar is standing along with lower rank states in the field of education, health, employment and development,” said Imaan.

The Owasisi-led party had to face criticism that it was contesting six seats in Seemanchal just to divide the secular votes.