Patna: Deputy chief minister Sushil Kumar Modi on Monday denied any financial irregularity in returning unused money to the state's contingency fund.

The RJD's Lalit Yadav alleged in the Assembly that of over Rs 19,000 crore parked in banks, only Rs 650 crore had been returned to the contingency fund. Modi corrected him and said till February 27, Rs 3,707 crore out of Rs 12,000 crore had been returned.

"There is no scam. We have asked all the departments concerned to return the money they think would not be spent this financial year. The whole of March is still left," Modi said

The state government has directed governments to return unused money from the 2017-18 fiscal to the contingency funds.

Panel boss

Energy minister Bijendra Prasad Yadav denied that the lack of a full-fledged chairman of Bihar Human Rights Commission was hampering work. "In 2017, the commission disposed of off over 9,000 cases," he said in response to a question from JDU's Shyam Rajak. He refused to give a timeframe for appointing a full-fledged chairman.

Closed mills

Sugarcane minister Khursheed Ahmad conceded that investors were not coming with a proposal to revive the eight closed sugar mills in Bihar despite a tender being issued for the process five times. "Now we are thinking of transferring the land to Biada for setting up industrial units in the eight closed sugar mills," he said.

Ahmad,however, failed to explain why investors were not coming up with proposals to revive the plants.

Agro plan

The government will consider use of "raindrop", a chemical used in drought-hit states for preserving water in plants. Responding to a question raised by Mewa Lal Choudhary, minister Vinay Kumar Sinha said the agriculture department was studying the possibility for using the chemical.

Raindrop are water-absorbing granules used to preserve water in the plants. Choudhary said the chemical is used in Rajasthan and Maharashtra.

Bihar has eight rain-deficient districts.