Patna: Education minister Krishna Nandan Prasad Verma declared that an action plan was being set up to provide chairs and desks to all government schools.

But he did not give a time-frame, saying that over Rs 200 crore was sanctioned for purchase of desks and chairs for students in government schools in 2014-15. The issue came up when Shyam Rajak of the JDU raised the issue of a government primary school in his constituency, Phulwarisharif, and stressed that students were having to sit on mats.

MLAs cutting across party line were not satisfied with the minister's answer, saying the problem was there in the entire state. Rajak said the government gave just Rs 12,000 per year for purchase of desks and chairs to middle schools and just Rs 7,000 to primary schools. MLAs cutting across party line wanted the education minister to set a time frame.

Deputy chief minister Sushil Kumar Modi said budgetary allocation for the education department for 2018-19 had been raised by Rs 7,000 crore. "We are sensitive towards the requirements of schools. But these things cannot happen in a year. It'll take time," he said.

On another question related to pay scales of Sanskrit and Madarsa teachers, the education minister said implementation of the 7th pay panel's recommendations for Madarsa and Sanskrit teachers was under process.

Surajgarha uproar

There was an uproar in the House during Zero Hour when RJD MLA Prahalad Yadav alleged that the officer-in-charge of Surajgarha police station in Lakhisarai district had raided a village on January 1 and beaten up residents. "The police officer, now transferred to Patna, used abusive words against women. The MLA demanded action against the police officer. As MLAs cutting across party line demanded action, Speaker Vijay Kumar Chaudhary asked the treasury bench to get it probed.

Chief secretary furore

RJD MLAs raised a furore over chief secretary Anjani Singh's continuation on his post after the Ranchi CBI court issued a summons to him. Lalit Yadav accused CM Nitish Kumar of trying to shield corrupt officials and said Anjani should be sacked. RJD MLAs raised slogans against the chief secretary. The Speaker, however, was able to convince them to allow Question Hour to proceed. Anjani Singh was scheduled to retire on February 28 but the Centre has given him a three-month extension.