Patna, April 29: Chief minister Nitish Kumar perhaps wishes JP Movement stalwarts to forget and forgive Lalu Prasad for his “total revolution” remarks.

The RJD chief recently tried to take credit for Total Revolution, famously championed by JP in 1974. The RJD boss later backtracked.

Perhaps in a bid to neutralise the faux pas, the state government yesterday took a resolution to grant pension to surviving fighters of the JP Movement and the next to kin of the deceased fighters.

And also took the decision to refer to those killed during the movement as “martyrs”.

Home secretary Afzal Amanullah said a group of ministers which, includes Narendra Singh Tomar, Sudha Srivastava and Ashiwini Kumar Choubey, under the deputy chief minister, Sushil Kumar Modi, will finalise the modalities of pension in consultation with the state chief secretary, A.K. Choudhary.

The deputy CM and three ministers will meet some of key participants of the movement to decide on the pension beneficiaries and the amount.

The government resolution, however, has evoked a mixed reaction. While some say their contribution can not be repaid in any form, others believe any sort of help would be welcome.

Ashok Priyadarshi, a key JP movement participant, now running a non-political group, Jansangharsha Muktivahini, told The Telegraph: “It is true that Laluji only kept discussing about a ‘pension’. Now that Nitish Kumar looks keen to actually start the process, the state must take suggestions from the real fighters of the movement.”

Priyadarshi, now 50, was doing his intermediate during the 1974 movement that continued till 1977. He, however, said: “A self-respecting person like me will not accept a pension. It will simply belittle our contribution.” Pankaj, another key participant, known as “Betia ka Gandhi”, too, finds the concept nothing more than a placebo.