India News | Governor Addresses Joint Session of Bihar Legislature
Get latest articles and stories on India at LatestLY. Addresing the joint sitting of Bihar legislature, Governor Phagu Chauhan on Thursday lauded the state government for establising "rule of law" and also for timely action to deal with COVID-19 pandemic which helped the state achieve a high recovery rate, much better than the national average.
Patna, Nov 26 (PTI) Addresing the joint sitting of Bihar legislature, Governor Phagu Chauhan on Thursday lauded the state government for establising "rule of law" and also for timely action to deal with COVID-19 pandemic which helped the state achieve a high recovery rate, much better than the national average.
The opposition parties members contested the claims on development and law and order and raised anti-government slogans in course of the Governor's speech that lasted for 15 minutes.
Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, two Deputy Chief Ministers- Tar Kishor Prasad and Renu Devi- and opposition leader Tejashwi Yadav attended the special session.
Former deputy chief minister Sushil Kumar Modi, who is a member of the legislative council, sat on the front row along with other senior leaders.
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Chauhan said Bihar has witnessed double digit growth rate in the past 15 years, the benefit of which has touched every sections of the society leading to a big decline in the poverty rate in the state.
Stating that peaceful, independent and fair assembly polls were recently held in the state, Chauhan said the people have returned Nitish Kumar government to power accepting its "agenda for development".
Its the state governments resolve to work for the development of every region and section of the society by following the principles of "growth with justice", he said while reading from a written text.
He asserted that the government is committed to maintain the "rule of law". It has been the state governments policy of following "zero tolerance" on crime, corruption and communalism, he added.
The state government has adopted the policy of inclusive growth, the Governor said and added Bihar has witnessed a double digit growth rate in the past 15 years.
"The strategy for Bihars development has been that of decentralised development. Its benefit has reached to every sections of the society leading to a big decline in the poverty rate in the state," he added.
Talking about coronavirus outbreak, Chauhan said the state government has been cautious from day one in dealing with the pandemic and took all possible steps in this regard.
The state government provided all possible help including financial and foodgrains especially to migrant labourers stuck outside the state during nationwide lockdown, Chuahan said that the government provided Rs 1,000 as special assistance to 20.95 lakh people held up outside the state during the shutdown.
It also spent Rs 5300 per person on more than 15 lakh people, who were kept in the quarantine facilities across the state on arrival from outside.
The government also gave Rs 1000 to 1.64 crore ration card holders in the state as assistance, he said adding that the state government spent more than Rs 10,000 crore on carrying out various relief works to deal with the pandemic.
Besides, the central government gave the ration card holders five kg of grains per person and one kg of pulse from April to November, he said. In order to prevent the spread of the contagion, the government not only increased the testing but also improved the health infrastructure for better treatment, he said, adding the state is testing 10,000 samples more than national average of per million tests.
More than one lakh samples are being tested for coronavirus per day in the state, he added. The recovery rate of the COVID patients is higher than the national average recovery rate, Chauhan said and added that the death rate among the infected persons is also lower than the national average.
The COVID recovery rate was 97.13 per cent Wednesday while it was 97.25 per cent a day before that.
The precentage of infected persons getting cured is above 96 for past many days in the state.
The vaccination will be carried out once vaccine for the disease is available but till then, people will have to be aware, cautious and alert to safeguard oneself from getting infected, Chauhan said. On prohibition, he said laws against liquor will be strictly implemented like in the past.
The state government will also continue with its campaign against social evils like dowry and child marriage, the Governor said.
The government is also committed for the development of industries in the state, Chauhan said and added that new "Industrial Incentive Policy, 2020" has been implemented in the state with a view to spur industrial development and creating employment opportunities. The construction of toilet in every households has almost been achieved, besides providing piped drinking water to most of the households, Chauhan said.
(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)