Chief minister Nitish Kumar inaugurates a milk cooling plant at Hajipur as animal and fish resources minister Giriraj Singh looks on. Telegraph picture n See Page 6

Patna, April 18: A debate over the cost and benefits of Nitish Kumar’s Seva Yatra has broken out within political circles here ahead of the mission’s second phase that begins later this week.

Government sources rolled out figures to showcase the success of the yatra which takes the administration to the doorstep of the people. According to the available data, the government has disposed of 1.22 crore applications against the 1.34 crore it received under the right to service (RTS) act till Monday.

The Seva Yatra, as evident from its nomenclature, aims primarily at inspecting if the state machinery was delivering services that the government has promised to the people as per the RTS act that came into being on Independence Day last year. “The success rate of disposing of the applications under the act is phenomenal,” said an official of the Bihar Prasashnik Sudhar Mission, which is responsible for maintaining the statistics. “The Seva Yatra is a huge success benefiting crores of people. It has become easy for the citizens to procure the services within a stipulated time and that too without paying any bribe.”

When pointed out that about 12 lakh applications were still pending as per his own data, the official explained: “Nothing is pending. The officials are supposed to dispose of the applications within seven days to three months. The 12 lakh applications might be well within the time of the stipulated date of disposal.”

But the Opposition has strongly censured the chief minister ahead of his visit to East Champaran district on April 20, describing his yatra as an “exercise in image-building at the cost of the poor people’s money”.

“The first phase of the Seva Yatra (November 2011 to January 2012) in 11 districts cost an estimated Rs 100 crore,” leader of Opposition in the Assembly Abdul Bari Siddiqui told The Telegraph. “As much as Rs 50,000 is spent on the CM’s food in each district he goes to.”

Quoting his sources in the revenue department, Siddiqui said: “The department allocates Rs 1.5 lakh each to the circuit houses of the districts concerned only to change the bedsheet and towels in his room, leave alone the expenses carried out on their renovation and decoration for his visit. How can the chief minister of such a poor state indulge in such a lavish lifestyle?”

The Opposition leader asked the government to furnish the account of expenses incurred on the deployment of forces, fuel used in vehicles and helicopters and the travel allowance of senior officials accompanying Nitish.

“Nitish is getting seva (service) for himself and his party in the garb of Seva Yatra,” quipped Siddiqui.

The ruling dispensation, however, was quick to point to the benefits of the yatra, which they said goes beyond ensuring the right to service to the people.

“The Seva Yatra — purely a government venture devoid of the participation of party cadres — has shaken officials out of the lethargy that had set in before Nitish Kumar took over the reins of the state,” said JD((U) spokesman Sanjay Singh.

During his four-day Seva Yatra in East Champaran, Nitish is scheduled to inspect the India-Nepal border to follow up on the issues of cooperation he discussed with Nepal Prime Minister Baburam Bhattarai a few months ago. He will also inspect HPCL’s newly operational sugar factory at Sugauli, production of litchi besides visiting the Mahadalit tolas.