Patna: Speaker Vijay Kumar Chaudhary declared education minister Krishna Nandan Prasad Verma "Man of the Match" on Tuesday when the Opposition allowed Question Hour proceedings and his department fielded most of the questions.
Tuesday was the last day of the current Assembly session. RJD MLAs joked about Krishna Nandan, who had come wearing shirt and a pair of trousers instead of his usual kurta-pajama, as the Speaker said in a jovial mood: "The Opposition has not allowed you to speak in the session. Has it helped you and caused problems?"
The minister faced stiff questions and challenges not only from the Opposition benches but also from the ruling party MLAs. The legislators questioned him on primary schools running without buildings, 900 and odd government schools in Vaishali district running without headmasters, and schools running without teachers across the state. RJD's Lalit Yadav pointed out that contract teachers were made acting headmasters in several schools in Darbhanga against the government rules. The Speaker directed the education minister to get the matter probed .
This year's long budget session had very few peaceful days, as it was marred by the Opposition rushing into the Well of the House over Arjit Shashwat's arrest, the Supreme Court's ruling on the SC/ST Act, communal flare-ups in several of Bihar, corruption, prosecution of Dalits in the name of anti-liquor laws, damage to crops and other issues. The victim has been the Question Hour and lack of debate even in budgetary demands.
Bills were passed without discussion and both the ruling and opposition parties blamed each other for disruption.
Some of the matters discussed on Tuesday were -
Madarsa board: The education minister assured the House that the government would reconstitute the state Madarsa Board soon. He was responding to a question raised by RJD MLA Md Nemutullah who complained that the board was functioning with just four members instead of 10 for the past four years. The MLA wanted a timeframe but Krishna Nandan refused to give any.
Betel leaf growers: Agriculture minister Prem Kumar assured the House that betel leaf growers of 17 districts will be compensated for damage to crops because of cold-like conditions in the state. He said 1,620 acres were used for betel-leaf farming in Bihar and survey showed that crops had been damaged in 1,032 acres. He said compensation to the farmers will be paid after the government received a report from the district magistrates concerned.
Writers for cerebral palsy candidates: Parliamentary affairs minister Shravan Kumar declared that candidates with cerebral palsy would be entitled to bring writers to dictate answers to. He also said the candidates were given 45 minutes more than others.
