Property rights for women, action against private moneylenders, ranking of districts on governance parameters, and better implementation of the law for public grievance redress were among the suggestions chief minister Nitish Kumar received at Monday's Lok Samvad (public interaction) programme that was focused on good governance.
Ranvijay Kumar from Patna said the government should ensure daughters get their share in parents' property. Nitish pointed out that daughters already have an equal right to the property of their parents, but accepted that at times the male members of the family overlook or ignore that right.
The Hindu Succession Act, 1956, amended in 2005 and upheld by the Supreme Court in 2015, gives daughters equal right on the property of their parents.
'There is a law which provides daughters with an equal right to parents' property, and an atmosphere should be created to ensure that they get their due share,' Nitish said. 'It is related to the mindset of people and families.'
He pointed out that many women came to take compensation for land acquired for the thermal power project at Nabinagar in Aurangabad, and told Ranvijay to start a campaign from his own village. Nitish also asked officials present what the government could do on this issue.
Cabinet secretariat department principal secretary Brijesh Mehrotra said the circle officer should check whether the names of daughters have been included when the list of division of property of a family is submitted to him for mutation.
Revenue and land reforms department principal secretary Vivek Kumar Singh said the format of division of property and mutation is being decided and efforts will be made to ensure that daughters' names are also included in it.
Krishna Kumar Suman Yadav came all the way from Darbhanga - 194km northeast of Patna - to point out that private moneylenders were thriving in the rural areas, and suggested that the government should hike the Rs 25 registration fee upwards for such lenders and impose a 2 per cent surcharge on their transactions.
Krishna asserted that the private moneylenders charge exorbitant interest rates on loans to villagers, who end up losing their land and other assets in trying to repay.
'I don't think people register to indulge in the money-lending business,' Nitish said and directed officials to ensure the Bihar Moneylenders Act, 1974, should be implemented. implemented.
Mohammad Rizwan, also from Darbhanga, said the state's 38 districts should be ranked on the basis of their performance in sectors such as education, health, prohibition, law and order.
The suggestion received fulsome praise from the chief minister.
Nitish Ranjan from Madhubani district cited 18 examples to highlight how the 'Bihar Right To Public Grievance Redressal Act' was being circumvented and compromised due to absence of the public grievance redress officer on hearing days, as well as government officials making up excuses for delay in addressing the complaints.
Ranjan said he could not open the bank account of a high school in his village despite registering his grievance over a year ago when the right to redress law came into effect, or get an additional transformer for 1,700 electricity consumers who were dependent on a single one leading to low voltage.
'We need activists like you on the ground,' the chief minister told Ranjan, and directed general administration officials to talk to him, redress his complaints, and take action against officers who remain absent from duty.
Sitaram Prasad from Nalanda district wanted the government to initiate consolidation of land in villages. S.N. Upadhyaya and Digvijay Kumar from Patna and Dhirendra Kumar from Aurangabad also gave their suggestions on better governance.
