Bengaluru, (Aryavarth): Corona’s havoc in the country is increasing day by day. In such a situation, the condition of the workers trapped in different parts of the country is the worst. A lockdown has been declared in the country for the last one and a half months, and the highest number of workers are grinding in this lockdown.
A figure shows that the total number of workers or laborers going to work in different parts of the country is more than two crore and about 19 lakh laborers from Bihar alone leave their state and look for a good job – Wandering from time to time. Now as soon as the coronavirus epidemic spreads, the workers of Bihar are being shown the way out of various states. But have you thought where these helpless and forced labor will go? For a month and a half, these workers have left for their home states on foot from various states. Some even broke down on their way. But still the Bihar government did not extend a helping hand to these workers and laborers.
Disgusting politics is practiced by every small and big party of the country, but in this critical time of the epidemic, the politics under which the Nitish government of Bihar is functioning is quite condemnable. The question arises that what has the Nitish Kumar government done in all these years? Neither did he give employment to the people, nor did he give higher education to the children, neither did he give rights to the poor, nor did he protect the interests of the people of his state living in different provinces? If we look at it, we will understand that where Bihar was 20 years ago, it is still there today. Political experts say that only Nitish Kumar, who is faking in the name of good governance, should take responsibility for it and retire from politics.
Bihar’s plight
Today, the name of Bihar may have been written in the history of India in glorious and golden letters, but seeing the plight of Bihar today, it seems as if people have forgotten the story of its history. Today, wherever you look, more than the glorious history of Bihar, Bihar’s plight is discussed. To hold one person responsible for this may not be an act of wisdom, but the truth is that no government has tried to keep the pride story of Bihar alive. Whichever government ruled Bihar, they did very limited work towards the development of the state. However, if we look at the history of Bihar, it would be surprising how every person born here is constantly trying to make Bihar glorious, and imagine the scene now. Today, people of Bihar do not want to live there.
Why do people flee from Bihar?
The main reason for migrating so many people from Bihar state is unemployment, poverty, lack of better amenities. No matter how many governments change, people of Bihar have failed to provide employment, electricity, good roads, good hospitals, good transport facilities, better law and order, better justice system. Hence migration is increasing. It has been said that not only Biharis or people of Uttar Pradesh have migrated all over India. There are many people from many states who have migrated to another state. However, the truth is that people blame only Biharis and Uttar Pradesh people. Yes, they are more in number but what is their fault? They move to another state of India mostly for better employment. In India’s ancient times, Bihar’s relations were much better than all the states of India. Pataliputra used to be the capital of the country. This kingdom flourished during the era of Dhanananda, Chandragupta, Emperor Ashoka. Used to be the oldest and richest state. Many rulers came in the country due to which changes took place in the capital of the country. Sometimes Delhi, sometimes Agra, sometimes Calcutta, sometimes Ujjain, sometimes Gwalior. In this way the capital of the country began to change.
Is the Government’s ineffective policies responsible
It is true that people migrated from Bihar and went to other states for employment and for this some intellectuals consider Lalu Yadav responsible. But more than a decade has passed for Lalu and the exodus continues. Government statistics may say that if the situation has improved, it will be fun. To know the reality, you can assess its magnitude by looking at the train with general coaches opening from Bihar and going to Delhi Punjab Haryana or South India. The simple thing is that due to lack of employment opportunities, this is happening for which the government and its rotten policy is responsible. Entrepreneurs are reluctant to set up industries here due to the bottlenecks in setting up industries, while the same entrepreneurs establish their industries with ease in other states.
Neither people have that much land for farming, nor is the income from grain proper for them. The main job of every government here is to save its power. They do not think of public interest but only about self interest. A large section of the migrating people is from the students here who go to other states to get ‘quality’ education which causes the economy within their state borders to collapse. A lot of state’s money is spent in improving the economy of other states. We can understand this with an example. Suppose only one lakh students from Bihar go for engineering studies in another state, which has an annual fee of one lakh (although in some states these fees are even higher). If their living and other expenses are valued at fifty thousand, then according to simple mathematics, these figures come. Total students – 100000 (These numbers are very low, actually three to four lakh students migrate to study in other states.) Per student expenditure – 150000. Whose total expenditure = 100000 * 150000 = 15000000000. If it is clear, fifteen billion rupees are spent every year in providing employment to people from Bihar in other states. Those ranging from Professor to Peon, Tailor to Saloon and Milk to Vegetable and people are forced to eat in other states.
What did Nitish give to Bihar?
If we talk about the development of Bihar, it will be known that in the last 15 years, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has shown Bihar only in the name of development. Many villages and towns in Bihar remain intact. Apart from development , the problem of electricity remains the same even today. There is neither industry nor good educational institutions in Bihar, due to which about 19 lakh people and more than two lakh students every year turn to other states. Nitish Kumar has made the people of Bihar foolish in the name of good governance and development. A recent study has shown that Bihar’s economic situation is extremely weak compared to many other states. It will be a little difficult to say what percentage of the budget that is taken from the Center every year goes to the development of Bihar. You can understand this by looking at the migration of the people of the state. Intellectuals say that the state’s economic situation has declined significantly since the prohibition of liquor in Bihar. He says that the public does not ask the Nitish government to spend from its own pocket, but at least the money allocated for the state government and for the development of the state should be used in the right direction.
Recently, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar was not in favor of bringing back students studying in the coaching institutes of Kota during the lockdown period. Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has said many times that in such a way, the movement of people by road will risk the precautions being taken against the spread of Covid19. It is very dangerous in terms of corona infection. It is known that the Yogi Adityanath government of Uttar Pradesh has sent buses there to bring the students of their state living in Kota. The Chief Minister says that this is not the time to operate vehicles. In Rajasthan’s Kota, students from all over the country prepare for competitive examinations. But after spreading the infection of Corona there, a demand started to get those students out of the house. Seeing the matter catching up, the Ashok Gehlot government of Rajasthan agreed to allow such students to leave. But the attitude of the Chief Minister of Bihar was seen differently.
Nitish government is confronted with lot of questions
Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar’s party and the BJP are seen to have a tussle over the return of migrant laborers trapped in other states during the lockdown. Several BJP leaders, including the president of the state unit, have raised serious questions over the functioning of the state government. At the same time, BJP’s ally JDU has described Nitish’s model of dealing with lockdown as the most effective. The altercation between the two parties came after BJP Bihar president Sanjay Jaiswal questioned the state government’s approach in dealing with the migrant issue in a Facebook post. Jaiswal said that the problem with the Bihar government is that none of their officials make it clear to the media what kind of shops will open in which zone or which train is coming to Bihar and where to register.
Jaiswal, MP from West Champaran, said that as a result of the state government’s attitude, people are posting against the government on social media. The Bihar government should take a lesson from the Yogi government in UP. The Chief Secretary of UP tells the media very well. At the same time, a section of BJP leaders led by MLC Naval Kishore Yadav praised Chief Minister Nitish Kumar. He said, there is no CM in the country better than Nitish Kumar. On learning from Yogi Sarkar, he said that I do not know anything about the work of Yogi Sarkar. He (Nitish Kumar) is a better CM, that is why BJP is supporting him. The JDU defended Nitish Kumar, saying that the Chief Minister of Bihar does not believe in populist measures. Party General Secretary KC Tyagi said that Bihar has not committed the mistakes that UP or Punjab committed. The CM measures of Bihar are more protective and more accountable than those of UP and Punjab. He further said that if he had not followed the guidelines of the Center, the number of positive cases in the state would have been higher. Nitish model has saved Bihar. He said that every party has the right to have its own viewpoint.
RJD has also attacked Nitish Kumar on this matter. RJD spokesman Bhai Birendra said that the government needs to respond to the issues raised by the BJP president. JDU leaders were angered when we raised this issue. We were demanding the evacuation of the students, but the Nitish Kumar government rejected it citing the lockdown norms. Leader of Opposition Tejashwi Prasad Yadav said that the state government has no definite action plan to bring the stranded people to various states. Nodal officers have switched off their mobile phones or are not reachable. The state government is also taking ticket prices from the migrants.
Where is Bihar CM Nitish Kumar these days?
Not a single interview is in sight of him or of his ministers talking about the preparedness of Bihar on Coronavirus pandemic. We don’t have any clue on the testing capacity of Bihar like how many tests they can conduct on a daily basis, what is the isolation bed capacity and others. This is the time leadership of the state should be courageous enough to come forward and speak on the facts. It’s a bitter truth that lockdown is not the solution of this pandemic. Lockdown was meant to buy the time so that we are better prepared to fight this pandemic and state should show their preparedness level. We definitely need to open up our economy in the coming days and masses need to be taken in confidence for this and this can only be done if we talk about our preparedness level. So Nitish Kumar please come ahead and talk about health care structures and measures the government has taken so far.