BIHAR

CM slams slashing of funds in Budget for key schemes

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Chief ministerNitish Kumar expressed concern over the slashing of funds for central schemes meant for rural development in the 2023-23 UnionBudget, and also reiterated his demand for the grant of special category status toBihar.

The Centre should have accepted the demand of a poor state like Bihar regarding special category status to it, and three to five other states. This measure and central assistance would have helped their developmentt, which, after all, would have been in favour of the country, the CM said.

There is nothing in the central budget in the interest of the people, and rural areas. Funds allotted for the central schemes in 2022-23 financial year have been slashed, he said when asked about his response on the budget during his Samadhan Yatra in Saharsa district.

The CM said funds for important initiatives like the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural EMPLOYMENT Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) have been brought down from Rs 73,000 crore in 2022-23 to Rs 60,000 crore, for PM Krishi Sinchai Scheme by Rs 2,167 crore and for Rashtriya Shiksha Mission by Rs 600 crore, besides others.

Medical university to start functioning soon: Bihar minister

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Health ministerMangal Pandey said a full-fledged medical university will start functioning from the next academic session in Bihar.

Pandey told this newspaper that the state cabinet has already sanctioned the posts of vice-chancellor (VC),pro-VC, registrar, examination controller, and other officials along with those of secretarial staff for the university. The process of their appointment will be initiated by the government soon, he said.

In a distinct departure from the conventional universities of the state, the VC and pro-VC of this medical university would not be appointed by the governor-cum-chancellor but by the itself. The government is likely to constitute a search committee to recommend suitable people for appointment to the top executive posts of the university.

Centre for Bay of Bengal Studies launched at Nalanda University

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The Centre for Bay of Bengal Studies atNalanda University(NU) was inaugurated by Saurabh Kumar, secretary (east), ministry of external affairs.

It is envisioned as a leading interdisciplinary research centre engaged in research, TEACHING and developing evidence-based public policy on diverse subjects of the Bay of Bengal region. The initiative aims at building an empirical Learning program related to the Bay of Bengal region and to study the emerging challenges in the Asia-Pacific region.

He emphasised the importance of studying maritime HISTORY to establish India’s ancient linkages with its neighbouring countries. “As the centre grows and develops, it will aid researchers and policymakers in decisions related to the maritime domain,” he added.

He commended the efforts made by University for leading the initiatives for pan-Asian academic collaborations and developing a collective knowledge Network across the continent.

Bihar’s 15% GSDP growth in 2021-22 offsets Covid effect

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Offsetting the Covid-19 pandemic effect,Biharrecorded theGross State Domestic Product(GSDP) Growth rate of 15.04 per cent in 2021-22, the highest during the past years, according to the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) of India report, which was tabled in the .

“During the period of 2017-18 to 2021-22, the GSDP growth rate of Bihar was higher than the all-India Average at current prices. During 2021-22, the GSDP growth rate was recorded at 15.04 per cent, the highest during the last five years,” the CAG report states. During the pandemic period (2020-21), the GSDP growth rate was recorded at 0.80 per cent against the country’s GDP of (-) 1.36 per cent. In 2019-20, the GSDP was recorded at 10.33 per cent, followed by 12.64 per cent in 2018-19 and 11.33 per cent in 2017-18, the report states.

This, indeed, could be termed as wonderful given the fact that the economy of Bihar is primarily agrarian and it has higher POVERTY level as compared to the all-India average.

Apart from this, the density of Population in the state has increased from 881 persons per sq km (2001) to 1,327 persons per square km (2022).

The report also said the state witnessed an increase in Revenue Receipts by Rs 30,630 crore (23.90 per cent) in FY2021-22 over the previous financial year.

It further said during the past 10 financial years, transfer of funds from the central government had increased from Rs 42,178.31 crore in FY 2012-13 to Rs 1,19,958.45 crore in FY 201-22.

The report further stated that only 9,878.08 crore (13.87 per cent) out of the total Savings of Rs71,194.67 crore was surrendered during FY 2021-22. As per the report, the overall savings of Rs71,194.67 crore (26.83 per cent) resulted from savings of Rs 53,857.87 crore in 46 grants and eight appropriations under revenue section and savings of Rs 17,336.80 crore in 35 grants/appropriation under capital section, including seven grants under loans and advances and one grant under Public Debt repayments.
The CAG report further mentioned that in 34 cases (of savings amounting to Rs100 crore and above) of 27 grants, there were persistent total savings of Rs 42,260.60 crore and above during each of the last five financial years.

Bihars Mithila Makhana Granted GI Tag

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Bihars Mithila Makhana Is Given the Tag by the Centre.

Highlights:

Under the Central Ministry of Commerce, the Geographical Indications Registry (GIR) has obtained the petition to rename Bihar Makhana as Mithila Makhana.

It also proposed further changes to the brand logo to reflect its origins.

It also offered modifications within the brand logo to spotlight its origins and protect the products Geographical Indications (GI) rights.

The Sabour based Bihar Agriculture-notes-for-state-psc-exams”>Agriculture University (BAU) started an application on behalf of the Mithilanchal Makhana Utpadak Sangh (MMUS) to call their produce Mithila Makhana for the welfare of fox nut growers within the Mithila region.

Cabinet extends deadlinefor caste-based headcount

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The state cabinet approved the proposal of the general administration department (GAD) to extend the deadline for completing the exercise of caste-based headcount in the state by three months to May, 2023.

The caste-based headcount was to be completed by February next year, but the deadline was extended as the will conduct the electoral roll revision exercise during this period and there will also be Matriculation and Intermediate exams early next year.

The cabinet also gave its nod to the purchase of speed boats, chain and other equipment by the mines and geology department for use in controlling illegal sand mining and transportation in the rivers of Patna, Bhojpur, Saran and other districts. For this, Rs 5 crore was sanctioned to the mines department from the state contingency fund.

Schemes help increase women literacy rate in Bihar

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Several government schemes have helped increase the Percentage of girl children inBiharattending school from 56.9% inNational Family Healthsurvey-4 (NFHS-4) to 61.1% in NFHS-5. However, the percentage of Women with ten or more years of schooling remains low as the state Average in this category is 28.8%. This means that even if the girls go to school, majority of them do not study for even ten years.

Also, in almost all the social parameters, females are lagging behind males. When it comes to urban and rural divide, the condition of females is worse in the rural areas.

In ten or more years of schooling, while 28.8% of females had attended school for ten or more years compared to 42.8% males in the state. Countrywide data shows that 41% of females had attended ten or more years of schooling compared to 50.2% men.

NMCG signs MoU for faecal sludge management in Ganga basin

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The National Mission of Clean Ganga (NMCG) has signed an MoU with Water, Sanitation and Hygiene Institute (WASH Institute) to efficiently address Faecal Sludge and Septage Management (FSSM) issues in towns and cities of the Ganga basin.

The project that will ensure a series of trainings to enhance the quality of service of officials in (ULBs) will be funded by the US AID and supported by The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF).

In India, untreated faecal sludge and urban sewage are the primary source of Water Pollution, particularly in the cities around Ganges. Under Prime Minister’s Swachh Bharat Mission, more than 62 lakh toilets were built but half of these toilets rely on on-site sanitation system (OSS). “Managing the waste collected from these toilets is the next big challenge for India.

Considering these challenges, systematic capacity building initiatives needed to be undertaken to build the skill and knowledge of the government, Urban Local Body (ULB) officials, STP/FSTP Operators, sanitary workers, entrepreneurs, NGO professionals and other stakeholders involved in the FSSM sector across India, the release said.

As a first step in this collaboration, a webinar followed by two batches of detailed online trainings have already been conducted starting off with the state of Uttar Pradesh covering 20 ULBs.

Cricket stadium in Bihar likely to be ready before March 22

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Over 75% of the work on construction of the international cricket stadium-cum-Sports academy in Rajgir has been completed. If all goes well, it will be ready before the March 22, 2022 deadline set by art, culture and youth minister, Alok Ranjan.

Spread over 90 acres of land, the state-of-the-art stadium at Pilkhi panchayat in Rajgir will accommodate 45,000 people at a time. It will also have indoor and outdoor sports complexes and facilities like a playground, research centre, latest equipment, fitness centre, library, and motivation centre.

The CM had laid the foundation for the international cricket stadium-cum-sports academy in 2018 and its implementing agency, Shapoorji Pallonji Group, was supposed to complete its construction in 2020. However, the work was delayed due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Rs 43,774 crore supplementary budget tabled in assembly

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States finance and commercial taxes minister Vijay Kumar Choudhary on Monday tabled Rs43,774 crore supplementary budget in the state assembly to meet expenditures under different central and state governments schemes. It is the first supplementary budget for FY 2023-24.

Of the total amount, Rs25,699 crore would be spent on the annual schemes while Rs 18,071 crore is for the establishment and committed expenditures.

As per the budget estimates, the has made a provision of Rs 6223.01 crore as state share in the Centre-sponsored Samagra Shiksha Abhiyan and Rs 436 crore for state share in the Centre-sponsored National Health Mission. A sum of Rs 380 crore has been earmarked as the state share under theMahatma GandhiNational Rural EMPLOYMENT Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS).

As per the provisions made for the state governments schemes, Rs4,000 crore has been allotted for solid and liquid Waste Management under the Saat Nischay-2 programme, while Rs 2,000 crore has been earmarked for building rural roads under the Mukhya Mantri Gram Sampark Yojana. A sum of Rs 2,000 crore has also been earmarked for construction of roads, bridges and acquisition of land for the road projects.

Similarly, Rs 230 crore has been provisioned for the Patna Metro Project, Rs160 crore for acquisition of land in Mumbai for the construction ofBiharBhawan in Mumbai and Rs 105 crore for building residential quarters for judges.

Under the establishment and committed expenditures, a sum of Rs 4036 crore has been allocated for the consumers subsidy in the electricity bills, while Rs 331 crore has been earmarked for purchasing arms and ammunition by the Home (Police) department.