Security personnel frisk visitors at the janata darbar in Patna on Monday. Picture by Deepak Kumar

Patna, Jan. 17: Aditya Prasad came to the Nitish’s janata darbar with lots of expectations, but had to return disappointed.

An employee with the Bihar State Forest Development Board at Jamui, Aditya has not been receiving his salary for the past seven years.

Today, Aditya had come to the chief minister’s janata darbar with the hope of getting a solution to his problem.

Aditya told The Telegraph: “I had come here with a lot of expectations. But the chief minister just asked me to give an application to the forest department. Life has become really difficult for me as I have not been getting my salary for the past seven years.”

Prasad said the board, which has around 200 employees, has been defunct since 2003 but the NDA government took a decision in January 2009 to revive it by changing its name. He pointed out that the chief secretary had said the name of the board should not be changed and the file has been pending with the chief minister’s office.

“I have also met deputy chief minister Sushil Kumar Modi. He assured me of taking an action, but nothing happened,” he said.

Mohammed Hira Alam of Chautham block in Khagaria district, however, was not disappointed.

Alam had been implicated in a false case by a village head, and had come to Nitish’s janata darbar seeking justice.

Alam said he had raised his voice against Telaunch village panchayat on charges of corruption. “He was involved in corruption relating to the development work. I had given a petition to the district magistrate, who directed a probe into the matter,” Alam said.

“The allegations were found to be true and the police lodged an FIR against him last year. An arrest warrant was issued to nab the village head. Later, the police even issued an order to attach his property but till date the police have not been able to arrest the village head,” he said.

“Today, I am a very happy man as I got a much needed respite from the chief minister who directed the officials concerned to take action in this regard. The DIG directed the superintendent of police to take appropriate action and send an action report within a fortnight,” Alam said.

Among many others, Gopal Chaurasia of Dulhin Bazar in Patna district came with a complaint to the chief minister that he had not been getting kerosene oil and ration for several months.

A group of junior engineers, appointed on a contractual basis, working with the water resources department, demanded their services should be regularised with the benefits at par with government employees.

Minister’s plea

Today’s janata darbar was a witness to an unusual scene when cooperatives minister Ramadhar Singh went to the rural works department minister Bhim Singh to get a road falling under his Aurangabad constituency repaired.

Justifying his action in a lighter vein, Singh later said: “One of my supporters had come to me to get the 4km stretch repaired near Jamhaur village, which falls in my constituency. Hence, I went to the rural works department minister who was sitting alone.”