Patna, June 17: The ambitious Janbhagidari initiative under the Nitish Kumar government's "Badh Chala Bihar-Bihar2025" campaign would be launched this week with several hi-tech trucks - "Janbhagidari Manch" - rolling out from the city to collect feedback on the state's development from residents directly.
Total 400 trucks equipped with modern gadgets, including Global Positioning System (GPS), LED panels, microphones and music system, would criss-cross the hinterlands of the state to hold 40,000 village-level meetings to collect the development aspirations of each village over the next two months.
Sources claimed that after reaching the villages, audio/visual clips giving a brief overview of the government's pre-existing efforts towards inclusive development would be played on the trucks.
Open discussions on the issues dubbed important by the people would follow.
Following discussions, each villager would be asked to fill up the feedback forms containing personal information as well as those related to development in their vicinity, including the availability of basic infrastructure, access to education and health facilities. Their opinions and concerns would be a part of the village-level "Vikas Patras (development papers)".
A senior official in the state information and public relations department (IPRD) said the design of the trucks was finalised on Tuesday. The trucks would start moving around in Patna on Saturday.
"Training has been imparted to the district-level officers, including district public relations officers, who would be onboard these trucks and hold interactions with villagers. People would be asked to share their views and feedback on the development of the state, based on which the vision document for the next 10 years (Bihar 2025) would be drafted," said the IPRD official, adding that the first few trucks would be sent to villages along the periphery of the city.
The "Badh Chala Bihar-Bihar2025" campaign was launched by chief minister Nitish Kumar here on June 9. Claimed to be the world's largest inclusive governance programme, it is designed and getting executed by "Citizens for Accountable Governance" under contract with IPRD.
Citizens for Accountable Governance is a team of young professionals, including graduates from IITs and IIMs, led by Prashant Kishor - the key strategist behind the well-planned campaign of Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections.
The sources claimed that a pilot trial of the Janbhagidari Manch - the trucks going to the villages - has been successfully conducted in Noida earlier this year.
"Every truck will be supported by a campaign mobiliser "Janbhagidari Samparkkarta", who will function as a representative of the state leadership. Citizens for Accountable Governance recruited them through a rigorous selection process. Besides, district public relations officers have been trained to be a part of the Janbhagidari Manch (trucks)," said the IPRD official.
Apart from Janbhagidari, progress has also been made in Jigyasa, the second initiative under the "Badh Chala Bihar-Bihar2025" campaign. Registrations are open at present for various institutions of higher studies, students, researchers and specialists and subject matter experts to document the milestones achieved by the government of Bihar over the past decade.
Registration process under Jigyasa started on June 12 and would end on July 5.
The sources claimed that a few research teams would get an opportunity to conduct independent and intense field research in the state. Select research papers would be rewarded. Prizes up to Rs 3 lakh would be given to the top entries.
