Chief minister Nitish Kumar's photographs will appear in government advertisements only after the information and public relations department (IPRD) cross-checks whether the CM secretariat has granted permission for it.
Chief secretary Anjani Kumar Singh on Tuesday entrusted the IPRD, which releases government advertisements to newspapers, websites and television channels with the task, taking lessons from the Patna boat tragedy in which 24 people died while crossing the Ganga after participating in the kite festival on Makar Sankranti (January 14) this year.
Nitish's picture had appeared in the advertisements for the kite festival and had generated controversy after the boat tragedy. Residents, as well as, opposition parties had alleged that a huge crowd had gathered at Sabalpur diara across the Ganga after seeing the chief minister's photograph. The kite festival advertisement, with Nitish's photograph, was published by the tourism department and the CM secretariat had denied permission to it. "The rule of seeking permission from the chief minister's secretariat before publishing his photograph in advertisements has been there, but departments were not following it and putting his photos as per their wishes. Now, this will not happen. The IPRD will release advertisements with the chief minister's photographs for publication only after ascertaining that the CM secretariat has given its nod," Singh said.
Anjani, who chaired a meeting of government departments, in the light of the boat tragedy, also directed the disaster management department (DMD) to arrange ample fuel (petrol and diesel) for the state disaster response force (SDRF) so that its personnel could move easily during emergencies.
The Patna High Court on Tuesday directed state government to file reply on why boats purchased by the DMD were not used for transportation of people, and rescue and relief operations during the kite festival and boat tragedy on Makar Sankranti. A public interest litigation (PIL) was filed by social activist Vikash Chandra alias Guddu Baba alleging negligence on the part of the state government that resulted in so many deaths.
Guddu Baba told the high court that the state disaster management department had purchased boats for the 38 districts in 2011-12 to be used in emergencies, of which 25 were bought for use in Patna. However, none of them was used to ferry the revellers to the diara area on the fateful day. Also, boats were not used during the rescue operation launched by the state to fish out the bodies from the river, he told the court.
Sources in the DMD said the SDRF had swung into action after getting information about the boat tragedy, but when it reached Gandhi Ghat, it had no petrol to operate its inflatable boats. The district administration could not arrange fuel in time and the relief and rescue operation were delayed. The chief secretary also gave directions for compulsory registration of all river-worthy boats across the state and those for public transport have adequate number of life jackets, buoys and other such life-saving equipment.
Briefing reporters after the meeting, which was attended by principal secretaries of several departments, DMD joint secretary Anirudh Kumar said: "The home department has been asked to make standard operating procedure for events in the state that attract huge crowd. It will also ensure availability of police personnel, magistrates, ambulances, CCTV, first-aid, public address system, walkie-talkies."
