Health minister to host darbar at will
Chief minister Nitish Kumar is fond of holding janata darbar. But a couple of his cabinet colleagues, including health minister Ashwini Kumar Choubey and labour welfare minister Janardan Singh Sigriwal, are not despite Nitish’s instruction. he chief minister had asked the ministers to take part in darbars once a week. Asked why he did not hold darbar every week, Choubey said: “I am not a bandhua mazdoor (bonded labourer) that I have to listen to people every Tuesday (the day he is supposed to hold darbar). I will hold darbar when I really feel like holding it.” Sigriwal was evasive on the query on his reluctance to hold the darbar. The inability of the Indian American comedians - Rajiv Satyal, Azhar Usman and Hari Kodabalu - to communicate in Hindi left several people high and dry at a city mall, where they were addressing reporters before performing in the city. Barring Usman, who could speak in toota foota (stumbling) Hindi or Hinglish, none of them could speak in the local language. “It is better to call the artistes from the local and national laughter channels to perform for us. We can’t understand their (Americans') language. How can they make us laugh?” asked an onlooker, rejecting the idea of inviting American performers to make Biharis laugh. The American Corner, the organiser of the show, should have taken notice of the fact that it is Bihar, a part of the Hindi heartland while organising the show to regale the audience here. Several litchi-growers from north Bihar’s Muzaffarpur and Vaishali districts assembled at SK Memorial Hall recently to attend the Litchi Utsav (festival), organised by the agriculture department. Agriculture minister Narendra Singh, development commissioner Ashok Singh and agriculture secretary N. Vijay Laxmi were on the dais. But to the dismay of the cultivators, the speakers dwelt heavily on the production of paddy, detailing how Shree Vidhi (a modern method to produce paddy) had helped farmers increase their yield. Like officials, Narendra also started speaking on the virtues of new methods of producing paddy. Loosing their cool, the litchi-growers objected. “You are a minister. You, at least, should educate us on litchi production. But you are also speaking on a topic hardly relevant to the function,” said a litchi-grower. Then the minister tried to speak something on litchi. But it became clear to the litchi-growers that the officials and the minister had half-baked knowledge on litchi production. The janata darbar of deputy chief minister Sushil Kumar Modi usually starts at 11am sharp every Tuesday. But one of these days, he turned up at 12noon. After meeting some people, he began interacting with the reporters. The complainants still in the queue alleged loudly that Modi was addressing reporters ignoring them. A bitterly disturbed Modi turned his attention towards dissenters and said: “I will hear those creating ruckus and disturbing my conversation with the reporters last. After all, you (complainants) should maintain certain decorum and understand that keeping the media posted on what we are doing is also a part of our duty.”
Monday, 09 February 2026
