Chief minister Nitish Kumar inaugurated a park in Kankerbagh on Wednesday, and on Friday, he would also unveil the swanky campus of Chandragupt Institute of Management Patna near Mithapur bus stand. An array of projects has been lined up for inauguration over the next few days, as the model code of conduct in force for the Legislative Council election would be lifted on Friday after declaration of results.

Officials in various departments have been instructed to work on a war footing to complete their projects as the model code of conduct for the upcoming Assembly elections is also likely to be put into effect in August after the announcement of poll dates. A high-level review meeting of projects of the building construction department under the chairmanship of the chief secretary is also slated on Friday. Piyush Kumar Tripathi highlights a few such projects that are all set for inauguration:

BIHAR MUSEUM

• Scope of work: Being developed on global standards, Bihar Museum is divided into four zones — educational, lobby, administrative and permanent gallery. A children’s gallery is also being developed as a part of the iconic museum project. Apart from primary exhibits, secondary sources like 3D panels, interactive kiosks and replicas among others would also be used in Bihar Museum
• Executing agencies: Building construction department and art, culture and youth affairs department
• Project cost: Rs 530 crore
• Commencement of work: Nitish laid the foundation stone for the museum on July 9, 2013
• Status: Work on three major components of the museum — orientation gallery, children’s gallery and discovery room — is in final stages
• Tentative inauguration date: Children and orientation galleries, and discovery room to be inaugurated by first week of August

EC glare on spate of inauguration

The Election Commission on Thursday stated that the inauguration of the park at Kankerbagh on Wednesday by Nitish can be investigated from the point of view of violation of model code of conduct in case a formal complaint is lodged regarding the same
“The violation of code of conduct could have been ascertained only if the project was undertaken by either any urban local body or panchayati raj institution. While CIMP pertains to the education department, the park was development by Bihar State Building Construction Corporation Ltd. Prima facie, inauguration of both projects does not seem to be violation of code of conduct as the possibility of influencing the voters is not certain. However, the matter can be investigated upon formal complaint,” said additional chief electoral officer R. Lakshmanan