Net gain in Samvad

Chief minister Nitish Kumar was having to hear about how to improve the motivation level of teachers, parents and students of schools from a person participating in his weekly Lok Samvad. "From where did you learn all this," Nitish asked the man. The man said he had done "research" on Google. "But Google can be a source of information not complete research," argued Nitish, pointing out how Wikipedia had fabricated facts about him. The man however, remained persistent and wondered if Nitish had taken the pain to get the facts rectified in Wikipedia. This time it was the turn of the chief minister to declare that he did not have the time to do it.

Drunk rats in dry state

Bihar police have been busy seizing liquor bottles in Patna and a journalist asked a police officer what happened to the seized liquor bottles. "They are deposited in the malkhana (store) of the police station. But there are rats in the malkhana that are playing havoc. Half the bottles get smashed due to the rats," said the police officer, jokingly adding that he would not be surprised if the rats drank the liquor. In fact, there are complaints about a substantial number of seized liquor bottles either being consumed or being gifted away to selected persons. "That's where power and liquor drunk rats come in handy for the police stations," remarked an amused police officer.

Education improvement

At the chief minister's Lok Samvad on Monday, several participants complained about no teachers, under-qualified teachers or teachers selected just because they were related to VIPs. "How can we expect quality education to be given to our children with these teachers?" asked a frustrated participant. Chief minister Nitish Kumar pointed out that even in the US there was a debate on the quality of education at the graduation level. "But in Bihar even children starting to go to school can be considered improvement in education," he declared. The CM was, however, quick to concede that there was a need to improve quality of education in Bihar. "As far as the quality of teachers is concerned Nitish himself is to blame as he recruited teachers without taking test," remarked a BJP leader.

Lalu and Guru

When Lalu Prasad announced that he was going to start an agitation against demonetisation, he had economist Mohan Guruswamy to support his views. Guruswamy was economic adviser to the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government. "Whenever Laluji needs an economist he picks up Mohan Guruswamy," quipped a political rival. "Even during the Vajpayee regime Guruswamy supported Lalu's assertion that Bihar was being under-funded by the Centre."