Tag: Bihar

Bihar seeks legal opinion on EPF benefits to teachers.

Source – hindustantimes.com

After the Patna High Court order and letter from the additional central provident fund commissioner (Bihar and Jharkhand) Rajib Bhattacharya to the additional chief secretary (education) RK Mahajan, the state government has finally sought legal opinion on extending EPF coverage to its nearly four lakh teachers.

“The government has sought legal opinion from the advocate general on how to go about it. Once the opinion arrives, the government will initiate the process,” said a senior official of the education department.

Interestingly, while the teachers are yet to get PF facility, it is already there for nearly 19,000 tola sevaks and nearly 9,000 volunteers of Talimi Markaz, who were deployed on a fixed salary to being out-of-school children to schools.

On October 16, the Bihar Education Project Council also issued directive for deduction of EPF amount from resource teachers and other employees.

In his letter, a copy of which has also been sent to chief secretary Deepak Kumar, the additional commissioner, EPFO, has stated that the matter needed to be resolved immediately as the HC might initiate contempt proceedings if the timeline of 60 days stipulated for compliance of its order and extension of PF benefits to teachers were not adhered to. Nearly a month has already lapsed since the order was passed.

“It is requested that nodal officer for each district as well as state coordinator may be nominated at the end of this month by the department of education to work with EPFO’s nodal officers for initiating action as per the EPF & MP Act, 1952. The compliance of the court is possible only when the department initiates the process,” he wrote.

Hearing a writ petition filed by two teachers from Maner and Nalanda, the bench of Justice Anil Kumar Upadhyay had last month directed the regional PF commissioner to see that the petitioners were benefited by the EPF scheme. “Necessary action in terms of the provisions of the Act must be taken by the officer at the earliest, preferably within a maximum period of 60 days from the date of receipt/production of a copy of this order,” the bench observed.

Regional PF commissioner RW Syiem said the additional commissioner had held meetings with Mahajan in the light of the Patna HC order for timely compliance. “The department has sought legal opinion from AG, but so far we have not been apprised of it. We have also written to the executive director of the Bihar Education Project Council, as a large number of teachers are under it,” he said.

Syiem said the EPFO has been consistently approaching the government for extension of PF coverage to all teachers. “We have also written to the district education officers (DEOs). We are serious about it,” he said.

A senior education department official said the huge backlog had created a difficult situation for the government, as PF was a statutory requirement. “When even tola sevaks have been extended the PF facility, why were teachers kept out of it for so long? Perhaps the AG will suggest a way out,” he said.

Double murder: two arrested from Bihar.

Source – thehindu.com

Two men were arrested from Bihar for allegedly killing a financier and his employee over a monetary dispute, the police said on Wednesday.

Accused Naveen Vashisth (32) and Rajnish (31), both residents of Bawana, were nabbed from Patna on Monday when they were about to board a bus for Nepal.

On October 14, 30-year-old Amit Hooda and his employee Nikhil Gulati (39) were shot dead and their bodies had been dumped in the Bawana Canal.

Unable to repay the borrowed money, Naveen hatched a plan to eliminate Amit. He recruited his friend Rajnish and Vikar, said Deputy Commissioner of Police (Crime) Joy Tirkey.

They hosted a liquor party at Naveen’s flat in Rohini Sector 24. When Amit arrived with Nikhil, the accused offered then liquor with an entire strip of sleeping pills mixed in, the officer said.

When the victims passed out, the accused bundled them up in Amit’s car and drove to an isolated patch near the canal. They took them out of the vehicle and shot them, the officer added. They then threw the bodies in the canal and buried the pistols in Rajnish’s farmland in Harewali village and parked Amit’s car in a residential area in Rohini. They called up a friend in Patna and boarded a train to Bihar where they had been hiding ever since, the DCP said.

Efforts are on to nab the third accused, he said.

“During interrogation, the accused admitted to their involvement in the killings. Naveen said that a few years ago, he was a property dealer. But his business was not doing well. Aout a year ago, he started a factory in Shahbad Dairy. He was short of cash and borrowed ₹3 lakh from Amit,” the officer said.

However, his factory suffered losses and he was unable to pay back the money to Amit, who had started pestering him for the cash.

On one occasion, Amit had visited his house in his absence and had misbehaved with his father, the officer added.

Delhi will come to halt if Bihar immigrants stop work: Nitish Kumar.

Source – indiatoday.in

Bihar Chief Minister and Janta Dal United President Nitish Kumar has said that the capital will come to a halt if immigrants from Bihar stop working.

He criticised Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal’s statement that people from Bihar come to the capital for free treatment. “Delhi belongs to all, it was an absurd statement,” he said addressing party workers at a meeting in Badarpur to kickstart preparations for assembly polls.

“If people from Bihar stop working then Delhi will come to a halt,” Nitish Kumar said.

He came down heavily on political opponents for not recognising the contribution of immigrants from Bihar to Delhi’s progress. He took on Kejriwal for his jibe that people from Bihar board a Rs 500 train for Rs 5 lakh treatment in the capital.

He said that the Aam Admi Party (AAP) Government has failed to provide basic infrastructure to residents of Delhi.

“A large population of Delhi still lives in unauthorised colonies, Government should run a campaign to provide relief,” he said. “There is no safe drinking water for people, Delhi Govt should ensure this, we are running a scheme in Bihar to provide water to every household tap,” he added.

Addressing party workers, mostly immigrants from Bihar and Eastern UP, the JDU chief said that liquor consumption is a menace and Delhi too needs prohibition to check it. He said that earlier there used to be jungle raj in Bihar but now law and order is under control. “We do a lot of work but don’t publicise much, in fact we spend least on publicity,” said Nitish Kumar.

JDU workers meet in Badarpur is being seen as an attempt by the party to woo immigrants from Bihar in the national capital.

The party intends to field candidates in all constituencies in the upcoming assembly polls slated to be held early next year.

The party has been trying to make woo voters from Bihar and its bordering districts of UP settled in the capital using Nitish Kumar’s popularity in the previous assembly and municipal polls without much impact so far.

Chhat rush in Bihar bound trains.

Source – dailypioneer.com

It’s the Chhat season, and people of Bihar from all over the world like to come back to their roots to celebrate the festival.

The reservation lists of three Bihar-bound trains — Tata-Chhapra Express, Tata-Danapur Express and Tata-Patna South Bihar Express — show zero availability of seats on October last week to November first week.

For the convenience of the travelling passengers and to clear extra rush during Diwali, Chhath and Winter holidays, South Eastern Railway has decided to temporarily augment  Rourkela-Bhubaneswar Intercity Express by attaching four extra general chair car coaches during the period from  October 21  to  December 31.This is in addition to one AC-3 Tier Coach already attached on temporary basis till December. Meanwhile, officials at the computerised ticket-booking centre at Tatanagar revealed that Puri-New Delhi-Purushottam Superfast Express, Neelanchal Express and other long-distance trains that travel via Bihar had also long waiting lists. “Trains plying between Tatanagar and various destinations of Bihar are already packed to capacity because of the heavy passenger rush and the waiting list of the two popular Bihar-bound trains, South Bihar Express and Tata-Chhapra, has already crossed the 150 mark,” said an official at Tatanagar.

Even so, many passengers are unable to reserve seats and were stuck in serpentine queues in front of booking counters. The waiting lists on the important trains had crossed the 200 mark, railway sources said.

 “We are aware that  the trains are running full and some of the passengers are facing problems. But the railways are trying to cope. We want everyone to come down to their families in Chhath,” noted the official. He said that that adequate arrangement at the platform is being made to deal with the rush and avoid commotion and trouble. “Announcements are made continually, asking passengers to remain calm and maintain order. Moreover, we are not changing the platform for train arrivals. Once the announcement about a particular train arriving at a particular platform is made, trains are not switched to alternative platforms, even if it leads to trains being late. Changing platforms, may lead to confusion and stampede as the platforms are so overflowing,” the official said.

He went on to add that Chhath is an important festival for the people of Bihar, Jharkhand and Uttar Pradesh. “Every year people in large number visit their native places.

Plans are there to add coaches to several Bihar bound trains to clear the extra rush of passengers. We are expecting a notification in this regard from Garden Reach, headquarters of South Eastern Railways in a day or two,” he said.

Top NDA Leaders Campaign Together For Bihar By-Polls

Source: ndtv.com


PATNA: Top leaders of the ruling National Democratic Alliance (NDA) in Bihar have hit the campaign trail together for the upcoming by-polls, also called the “semi-finals” ahead of the assembly elections due next year.

Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, who heads the JD(U), Union minister and LJP founding president Ram Vilas Paswan and Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Kumar Modi a BJP veteran on Thursday shared the stage at rallies in Duraunda and Kishanganj assembly segments and Samastipur Lok Sabha seat.

The itinerary seemed to highlight the coherence within the ruling coalition, with each constituent backing the others to the hilt.

This is in stark contrast to the five-party Grand Alliance which is riven by infighting and may end up posing a feeble challenge.

Duraunda is being contested by the JD(U) which has fielded Ajay Singh, husband of Kavita Singh whose election to the Lok Sabha from Siwan has necessitated the by-poll. Ajay Singhs mother Jagmata Devi had been the MLA from the seat until her death in 2011.

Kishanganj, a Muslim-dominated seat, is being fought by the BJP which has reposed its trust in the runner-up of 2015 assembly polls Sweety Singh who seeks to wrest the seat from the Congress which has fielded the septuagenarian mother of the previous winner Mohd Jawed, now representing the Lok Sabha seat of the same name.

Samastipur, a reserved seat, has fallen vacant upon the death of Ram Chandra Paswan, younger brother of the LJP chief who was serving his second term. The deceased leaders
son Prince is making his debut from the seat.

In addition to the three seats, by-polls are also scheduled in Belhar, Nathnagar and Simri Bakhtiyarpur all of which were won by the JD(U) in the assembly polls and have fallen vacant upon the incumbents getting elected to the Lok Sabha.

In Nathnaagar and Simri Bakhtiyarpur, Jitan Ram Manjhis Hindustani Awam Morcha and Mukesh Sahnis Vikassheel Insaan Party respectively have put up candidates despite candidates of the RJD which leads the opposition coalition being in the contest.

The Grand Alliance also includes the Congress and the RLSP which has not fielded its candidate in any of these constituencies.

Discord within the five-party formation was evident at the rallies with Manjhi and Sahni launching attacks on RJD heir apparent Tejashwi Yadav.

Yadav, on his part, remained conspicuous by his absence at a rally held in Samastipur where Congress candidate Ashok Kumar the runner-up of the last two elections, is once
again in the contest.

The RJD-Congress ties are nearly two decades old and Yadavs’ father Lalu Prasad has been known to be a trusted ally of AICC president Sonia Gandhi

NDA will Win All seats in Bihar Bypolls, Says Union Minister Ram Vilas Paswan

Source: news18.com

New Delhi: BJP ally and Union minister Ram Vilas Paswan said on Friday that the ruling NDA will win all seats going to Lok Sabha and Assembly bypolls in Bihar on October 21, asserting that a “divided and discredited” opposition stands no chance.

Polls will be held in five Assembly seats and the Lok Sabha constituency of Samastipur as incumbent MLAs were elected to Parliament during the recent general election while MP Ram Chandra Paswan died of a heart attack.

All three NDA parties — BJP, JD(U) and LJP — are involved in the elections. While the Chief Minister Nitish Kumar-led JD(U) is contesting in four Assembly seats, the BJP and the LJP have put up their candidate in an Assembly and the Lok Sabha seat respectively.

Ram Chandra Paswan’s son Prince Raj is fighting from Samastipur.

“All our candidates will emerge victorious. We have run a united campaign and people have full faith in the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Kumar,” LJP president Ram Vilas Paswan said.

The opposition ‘mahagathbandhan’ (grand alliance) is divided and discredited, he added.

With unity eluding the grand alliance, some of its partners have put up their candidates after its two main partners, RJD and the Congress, divided all the seats between them.

His party, he said, has also deployed its workers to campaign for the BJP in Maharashtra and Haryana Assembly polls. He expressed confidence that the saffron party will retain power in both the states.

Protesting Bihar Politician Takes Waste-filled Tractor to Minister’s Door Step, Fined for Driving Sans Licence

Source: news18.com

Patna: Maverick politician Rajesh Ranjan alias Pappu Yadav was fined on Thursday for driving without a valid licence a tractor-trolley full of garbage that he threatened to dump in front of a state minister’s residence in Patna, police said.

Yadav, a controversial former MP who has floated the Jan Adhikar Party (JAP), said he did this in protest against the state government’s “failure” to check the outbreak of dengue, which has afflicted more than 200 people in the city since the beginning of this month when heavy rain had left many pockets water-logged for several days.

The police said he was stopped and fined Rs 5,000 as he was carrying a licence to drive light motor vehicles, which expired in 2017, and not one to drive heavy vehicles.

“I have been deprived of my fundamental right to register a protest. I have a licence but they have come up with the challan on a flimsy ground that the one I possess did not qualify me for driving a heavy vehicle,” Yadav said.

The JAP leader who hogged the limelight when he moved on boats through the water-logged streets distributing food, drinking water, clothes and money a fortnight ago, collected trash from densely-populated localities and loaded it in the tractor-trolley with the help of his supporters.

Yadav also sprinkled bleaching powder at garbage dumps after collecting the waste to underscore that the authorities concerned were not doing enough to control the outbreak of vector-borne diseases.

He was, however, stopped a few kilometres ahead of the residence of Urban Development Minister Suresh Sharma by the police.

The men in uniform asked the former MP to furnish his driving licence and handed over a challan to him after he failed to produce a valid one, police said.

“I would have derived no pleasure out of throwing dirt at the doorstep of the minister. But I did want him to have a feel of the hellish condition in which the people of the city are living,” said Yadav, claiming it was a ploy to deter him from lending his voice to the people of Patna who have been suffering.

“This government has skewed priorities. It splurges billions of rupees on publicity while hospitals lack the kit used to transfuse platelets for want of funds,” he alleged.

“I will, however, keep raising my voice against the government’s insensitivity in whatever way it is possible. I shall also purchase a platelet transfusion kit from my own resources and donate it to the IGIMS (Indira Gandhi Institute of Medical Sciences) hospital here,” he said.

Bihar: Man arrested for extortion in name of Naxal organisations

Source: asianage.com

Patna: A person was arrested by the security forces for allegedly extorting money in the name of Naxal organisations from the residents of an area in Bihar’s Gaya.

Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP), Gaya, Rajeev Mishra said that a team of the Rampur police station, working along with CRPF and COBRA nabbed the accused identified as Vikas Kumar on Wednesday from the area.

“We had received the info that people working with Naxals were coming to take levy from a contractor. A CRPF, Cobra and Rampur police team carried out the operation in which a person named Vikas Kumar was arrested, and Rs 1.98 lakh was recovered from him, as against the amount of Rs 2.10 lakh given by the contractor,” Mishra told reporters here yesterday.

The SSP added that after the arrest it had come to light that a separate ring which was involved in extortion in the name of Naxal organisations was active in the area.

“However, after the arrest, it came to notice that one person named Mandeep, who is a sub-Zonal commander, had been extorting money by forming his own chain of command separate from the Naxals. The prime Naxal organisation had no idea of the levy being taken from contractors or businessmen,” Mishra said.

The police official added that the parallel gang which was involved in the business of extorting money from businessmen had been active in the region since long. Further investigations are underway.

BPSC 65th prelims: Cut off expected to be 100, says expert

Source: hindustantimes.com

Around three lakh candidates took the preliminary tests of 65th Combined Competitive Exam (CCE) examinations conducted by Bihar Public Service Commission (BPSC) at 718 centres across 35 districts for 423 government jobs on Tuesday.

In Patna, the candidates took the exams at 29 centres. There were 150 objective type questions from general studies that had to be answered within three hours.

“Only 70% candidates appeared for the exams across the state. It was concluded peacefully. In one of the centres at Hajipur, the exam started 15 minutes late due to some unavoidable reasons. The candidates were given extra time to compensate,” said Amrendra Kumar, exam controller of BPSC.

According to Dr M Rahman of Rahman’s Gurukool, Patna, “The questions this year were from history and current affairs. Candidates who have studied NCERT, current affairs and Bihar politics are expected to fare well.”

Expected Cut off:

In his opinion, the cut-off for general category will be 100, OBC 96-98, EBC 88-93, SC/ST 80-85 and female reserved 87-90.

What Students Said:

“Questions were not so difficult. Majority of questions were on current affairs and Bihar politics,” said Divyanshu, who took the exam at College of Commerce, Rajendranagar.

Another candidate, Amar Tiwary who took the exam at Sir GD Uccha Madhyamik Vidyalaya, Patliputra said, “I attempted more than 125 questions.All the questions had five options which made it challenging to choose the correct answer.”

After Prolonged Patna Water-logging, Bihar Govt Shifts Senior Officials from Currents Posts

Source: news18.com

Patna: The Bihar government has removed Principal Secretary of Urban Development department Chaitanya Prasad and Patna Divisional Commissioner Anand Kishor from their positions apparently in the wake of prolonged water-logging here triggered by incessant rain in September end.

Bihar Urban Infrastructure Development Corporation (BUIDCO) Managing Director Amarendra Prasad Singh has also been shifted to another post, according to a General Administration Department notification issued Tuesday evening.

Axe has fallen on the senior officials after the government had cracked whip on several middle level officials of the Patna Municipal Corporation and BUIDCO, responsible for upholding civic facilities in the capital city.

They were punished for lapses in discharge of their duties in dealing with the accumulation of water in several localities after heavy downpours for three days starting September 27 in Patna.

Water-logging continued for over a week in promiment localities like Rajendranagar, Kankarbagh and Patliputra colony, when boats of NDRF and SDRF were seen rescuing citizens from their inundated houses, had drawn national outrage.

The visual of Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Kumar Modi being rescued from his flooded house in Rajendranagar with other family members was seen with awe across the country. The issue had also resulted in some hot exchange of words between the ruling NDA partners- JD(U) and the BJP.

Chaitanya Prasad has been shifted to Science and Technology department as its principal secretary. Prasad, a 1989 batch IAS officer, will continue to hold additional charge of the Parliamentary Affairs department, the notification said.

Patna divisional commissioner Anand Kishor has been made Secretary in the urban development department. He will also hold additional charge of Managing Director of the Patna Metro

Rail Corporation.

According to the notification, 2002 batch IAS officer Sanjay Agarwal, currently Transport Secretary, has been given additional charge of Patna divisional commissioner till further order.

He had earlier served as Patna District Magistrate. BUIDCO MD Amarendra Prasad Singh has been transferred and made Administrator, Bihar State Road Transport Corporation, Patna while Chandrashekhar Singh, presently working as Additional Secretary in the CM Secretariat, will replace him in BUIDCO.

Choked drainage system after heavy rain in September end had caused massive water logging in many areas of the state capital.

The government had on Monday placed officials under suspension, withheld payment of their salaries and issued show-cause notices for lapses in discharge of their duties when the state capital was reeling under worst-ever water logging in three decades.

Chief Secretary Deepak Kumar had said the action followed a review meeting of the top government officials. The new transfer order also saw change in position of some other IAS officers.

Dr Dipak Prasad, currently Advisor, Bihar State Planning Board, has been made principal secretary in the Cabinet Secretariat department.

Science and Technology department’s principal secretary Harjot Kaur Bamhara will be principal secretary-cum commissioner in the Mines and Geology department.

Pradeep Kumar Jha has been made Director, Information and Public Relations department till further order. Jha will continue to hold additional charge as Special Secretary of Public Health and Engineering Department (PHED), it added.