Patna: The law of the land prevails in the state, Governor Satya Pal Malik said in his address to the joint sitting of the legislative Houses on Monday.
His speech lasted over an hour and even the Opposition heard him in rapt attention. "We'll give a point-wise rebuttal during the debate on the governor's address," leader of the Opposition in the Assembly Tejashwi Prasad said. The governor's address virtually claimed all-round success by the state government.
On the law and order front, the governor claimed the police force had been strengthened and the rule of law was in force. Quoting from National Crime Records Bureau figures he said the nation's average cognisable crimes per one lakh population was 233.6 while for Bihar it was just 157.4. The state ranked 22nd in crime. "Most crimes have been solved and legal proceedings are on against the guilty," he said. Recruitments were on to strengthen the police force, he said, and also mentioned jail reforms.
He pointed at action taken against public servants because of corruption. He said the vigilance bureau had caught 83 public servants taking bribe in 2017 and cases had been registered against them. Property belonging to corrupt public servants had been seized and over 17 crore petitions for various services to eliminate corruption disposed of under the Right to Service Act within a stipulated time-frame.
The governor claimed the state's economy was doing well and its plan size had increased by 11 per cent. "The state's own revenue was Rs 23,742 crore in 2016-17 and is estimated to become Rs 32,000 crore in 2017-18," he said crediting better financial management.
The governor listed steps taken by the government to empower women - 50 per cent quota in panchayats and local bodies, establishment of a women's battalion, 35 per cent quota in appointment of junior police and 35 per cent quota in all government jobs. For economic empowerment of women, he spoke of the Jeevika project linking over four lakh self-help groups to banks and establishing of women's helpline in all districts.
The governor also spoke on the seven resolves - skill development for youths, accessibility to wi-fi, tapwater for all, construction of toilets in each household and opening up new institutions. In the health sector, he said infrastructure worth around Rs 100 crore was being implemented and a kidney transplant unit had come up at IGIMS.
The governor spoke about construction of new roads, strengthening of power supply - both generation and transmission. He also highlighted progress made in agriculture and irrigation.
The governor's speech heralds the long budget session. The state budget will be presented on Tuesday. In his inaugural speech, Speaker Vijay Kumar Choudhary mentioned the recent Commonwealth meet. The session will last till April 4.
