Centre opens purse strings for Rabri

NEW DELHI, MARCH 27: In an apparent response to Bihar Chief Minister Rabri Devi's SOS, the Central Government today okayed a Rs 600-crore...

NEW DELHI, MARCH 27: In an apparent response to Bihar Chief Minister Rabri Devi8217;s SOS, the Central Government today okayed a Rs 600-crore package for the State, to help it tackle the extremist-landlord violence. The decision was taken after a five-hour meeting that the Union Home Secretary B P Singh held in his North Block office with Bihar Chief Secretary V S Dubey and Director General of Police DGP T P Sinha.

The Centre has also decided to reimburse 50 percent of the State8217;s security-related expenditure. It has been decided 8212; formally this time 8212; to rush 10 companies of paramilitary forces, taking the total number of companies in Bihar to 50. Significantly, this force will remain there for a year.

Jehanabad alone, the most trouble-prone district where two massacres took place recently, has been sanctioned Rs 100 crore to provide 35,000 houses to the people who live below the poverty line.

One of the highlights of today8217;s meeting is that the Bihar Government has agreed to make greater use of theNational Security Act NSA. It will now be used to apprehend activists of private senas and extremist groups, particularly their top leaders.

The three major issues discussed were: strengthening and modernising the State police; speeding up employment-generation and economic-empowerment programmes and settlement of land disputes.

In another important development, the State Government will set up special revenue courts in five Naxalite-affected districts. Aimed at speedy settlement of land-disputes 8212; held to be the root of everything that is wrong in the State 8212; the courts would be instructed to dispose all cases within a period of six months.

For strengthening the police force, the Home Ministry has decided to assist the Bihar administration in raising two units of ex-servicemen and also help in recruitment and training of 10,000 policemen.

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The Bihar Chief Secretary was told that the State had 8220;surrendered8221; Rs 450 crore which was meant for rural employment generation programmes for 1998-99. Butdespite this, the Centre agreed to sanction Rs 250 crore, to be disbursed early next month, for rural development schemes in April.

New Delhi has, however, made it clear that another Rs 250 crore, earmarked for the State, will change hands only after the Bihar Government informs the Centre of the 8220;proper utilisation8221; of the money sanctioned earlier.The State Government told the Centre that it had sanctioned Rs 120 crore for construction of roads in Naxalite-affected areas. Singh agreed to consider the organisation and financial support in this regard 8220;on receipt of proposals from the State Government.8221;