Nitish knows alleviating poverty is key to 2nd term

Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar is wary of becoming a victim of the Chandrababu Naidu syndrome. Thus, from the start itself he hates being called a CEO.

Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar is wary of becoming a victim of the Chandrababu Naidu syndrome. Thus, from the start itself he hates being called a CEO. He has also rejected the idea of Special Economic Zones (SEZs) in his state. Further, he has declared that no farmer will be forced to give his land for any development project.

To reassert his commitment for all inclusive growth, the Chief Minister has organised an international conference on poverty. This comes after two international events in the state capital — Global Conference for a Resurgent Bihar and Stanford University’s Mirror Conference. Scholars of national and international repute will congregate in the state capital for a three-day symposium christened “Revisiting the Poverty Issue: Measurement, Identification and Eradication Strategies”.

Poverty has emerged as a subject close to Kumar’s heart. Despite his best efforts and good intentions, schemes aimed at decreasing the poverty level have not yielded any concrete results. A seasoned politician, Kumar is well aware that building roads and industries alone will not see him through the next electoral test. To ensure a second term, he has to address the very basic needs of the poverty stricken masses by providing them with subsidised food grains, kerosene oil and a pucca house under the Indira Awas Yojna.

To streamline the Public Distribution System (PDS), Kumar had embarked upon a novel idea and introduced coupons. It hoped to plug leakages which were as high as 50 per cent in the state. However, that too has run into rough weather with large scale irregularities in the Below Poverty Line (BPL) list. A drive to correct the list is on. But the state Government is sure that the problem will persist as there more BPL families in the state than the number identified by the Centre.

Kumar’s repeated attempts to make the Centre understand his point and accept his demand for increasing the number of BPL families on the list and subsequently increase the quantity of food grains and kerosene oil has failed. Through the conference, Kumar hopes to build pressure on the Centre to accept his viewpoint. He also wants to prove that the Centre’s survey for identifying poverty is faulty. “There are at least one crore BPL families in the state but the Centre is not ready to accept it,” Kumar has complained.

Kumar is trying to build all round pressure over the issue. In the Monsoon session of the Assembly, a special debate over kerosene oil was held and at the end of it the Chief Minister blamed the Centre for the crisis of essential oil in the state. With the kind of political coalition he is heading, the leader wants to satisfy both ends of the social ladder. While extending benefits to the poor and backward, he does not want to annoy the well off or the upper castes in the state. He wants that the Above Poverty Line (APL) people should also get the benefit of subsidised kerosene oil taking into account the scarcity of power in the rural areas. The Centre has already made it clear that subsidised kerosene oil is only for the BPL families.