Reach for the sky: Visitors look on as balloons are released at the Bihar Divas function at Gandhi Maidan in Patna on Tuesday. Picture by Deepak Kumar

Patna, March 22: As Bihar stepped into its centenary year, chief minister Nitish Kumar today spelled out his strategy for the future — mobilise resources for development while sustaining the struggle against the Centre for getting “special status” for the state.

“Right from the beginning, Bihar has been meted out unjust treatment by the Centre. The people of Bihar are in the mood to tolerate this. The state would continue to wage the struggle till it is accorded special status,” Nitish said at Gandhi Maidan where he inaugurated the celebrations to mark Bihar Divas.

Bihar came into existence as a separate state on March 22, 1912, when it was carved out of Bengal and a separate Legislative Council was formed.

A crowd of about 20,000 watched as the chief minister, through his 45-minute speech, stressed on Biharipan (Bihari sub-nationalism) gaining over caste and creed.

Nitish said he and his government would give voice to the new generation who took pride in being a “Bihari”.

“The participation of people in programmes being held on this occasion proves that people of the state are not ready to be divided in the name of caste or religion. Anyone having any doubt should visit any village or town of Bihar where this would become apparent,” Nitish said.

This pride, the chief minister said, would reflect in the government’s policies as well as the state would mobilise resources on its own for undertaking development work.

“Developing human resources is one of the main goals of the state government. To realise this goal, special emphasis is being put on education, health, agriculture and roads. We are also taking steps to check corruption. Corrupt practices lead to diversion of funds to few people at the cost of the masses,” Nitish said.

But the chief minister made it clear it would continue to press the Centre to accord it special category status to fast-track the development process.

Nitish, citing examples from the past, said thanks to the policies of the central government, Bihar, which used to account for around 25 per cent of the total sugar production of the country at the time of Independence, now contributes just 2 to 3 per cent.

“People know it very well how sugar production shifted to southern and western states despite the fact that Bihar has a more conducive environment for sugarcane cultivation,” he said.

Nitish had focussed on the special category tag earlier in the day as well when he raised the demand in the presence of President Pratibha Patil to mark the 99th anniversary of the formation of the Legislative Council.

The chief minister, however, earned praise from Patil for promoting education for girls in the state.

As the sun beat down on the Gandhi Maidan, the chief minister turned his speech into a celebration of his government’s “achievements”.

Nitish said the NDA regime had brought down the percentage of dropout of schoolchildren from 12.5 to 3.5 in its first term. “Now we are working on a plan which would bring down this percentage to zero,” he said.

Launching the ambitious health guarantee programme for children and adolescents which would benefit about 3.40crore people, Nitish said, “Only a healthy young generation can guarantee the development of the state.”

Under the scheme, the state will guarantee health to all boys below 14 and all girls below 18 years of age. Boys and girls within these age groups across the state will receive diagnostic services at government expense and, if necessary, even surgical corrections of certain congenital defects.

In the launch year there would be a special drive to cover all children by October 2 and from next year this would become a regular feature.

Sharing the government’s plan to develop the agriculture sector, Nitish said a roadmap had already been charted out. The government’s vision was to ensure that the plate of every Indian would have at least something produced in Bihar.

Speaking out on the proposed seed bill of the Centre, Nitish said: “We have made it clear to the Centre that the policy should take into account the interests of farmers while allowing multinationals to sell their seeds. A clause should be put in place which would guarantee adequate compensation to farmers in case such seeds do not give the desired output.”

Heaping praise on Biharis for their talent and commitment to work, the chief minister said, “Bihar has always shown the path to the country as people of this state has the special qualities.”

He said he dreamt of the day when the upcoming Nalanda University would become a centre which would provide solutions to all on-going conflicts of the world.

“I urge the people of the state to dream big as only those who dream of something do great things in their lives. But at the same time I also advise the people to take measured steps to realise their dreams,” Nitish said.