News Analysis India

Tag: Niti Aayog report

  • Tejashwi Yadav in Bihar to host ‘Doctors’ Dialogue with Tejashwi’ on October 3

    Express News Service

    NEW DELHI: In the NITI Aayog report of the Indian Public Health Standards -2012 that was brought in the public domain with findings of 15 states in the country, including Jharkhand, Bihar ranked the worst 

    With only 6 beds per 1 lakh population in Bihar’s district hospitals, the state was placed at the bottom of the ranking report of the NITI Aayog .

    The findings of NITI Aayog has intensified the political pressure against the ruling NDA government by the opposition.

    Taking this issue to the public domain, opposition party leader Tejashwi Yadav of RJD, for the first time in his entire political career, is set to host a program called ‘Doctors’ Dialogue with Tejashwi’ on October 3 in Patna.

    ‘Doctors’ Dialogue with Tejashwi’ is aimed to make a detailed blueprint for revamping healthcare whenever his party comes in power.

    Aimed at knowing the problems and causes behind the status of state so far on public health standards, Tejashwi will interact with the people of the medical fraternity and other experts on healthcare through the program.

    Taunting Chief Minister Nitish Kumar after the release of the NITI Aayog report, Yadav said, “Congratulation to CM Nitish Kumar ji for making Bihar number one from the bottom!”

    But the BJP rejected the report of NITI Aayog saying the Aayog has always shown a preoccupied thought about Bihar.

    What came as a shock for Bihar is that its neighbouring state Jharkhand was placed above it, in terms of beds available per 1 lakh.  As per the report, Jharkhand has 9 beds in district hospitals per 1 lakh population.

    Among the 15 states, MP and Chhatisgarh have topped with 20 beds in their district hospitals per 1 lakh population.

    “Bihar which has elected 39 MPs out of 40 by the NDA and has doubled the engine government but the state is at the worst-with 6 beds per 1 lakh! Shameful to the state health minister, who runs away whenever he is asked to reply over this”, Tejashwi Yadav taunted on Friday.

    He said: “I would interact with the medical fraternity of Bihar and other healthcare experts to have a ground-based real sense of difficulties that medical practitioners and medicos also have to face in the state and how medical infrastructures and facilities can be improved to the level of easy accessibility with all facilities to the people”.

    Meanwhile, health minister Mangal Pandey after coming under fire by the opposition over the NITI Aayog report, said that health services in the state are identified by quality, with the quality of government hospitals and other health institutions improved. But Pandey didn’t say anything on the report of NITI Aayog directly and avoided the media queries.

    But a senior leader of BJP and MLA from Barh Gyanendra Singh Gyanu questioned the report of NITI Aayog and said that the Aayog has always shown its negative and preoccupied impression about Bihar. He said that status shown in the report was the status around 15 years ago during the rule of the Lalu-Rabri regime in the state.

  • Between perfomance and politics, turmoil surfaces within NDA in Bihar

    Express News Service
    PATNA: The Hindustani Awami Morch (HAM), one of the constituents of Nitish Kumar-led Bihar government, on Wednesday demanded the formation of ‘Coordination Committee’ within the NDA.

    This was a telling sign that all is not well with the ruling alliance.

    This comes few days after State BJP chief Dr Sanjay Jaiswal expressed his displeasure on the functioning of district administration in preventing crimes against Dalit by a particular section of people in the state.

    With this mind, the HAM stirred up politics within the NDA in Bihar with the demand for Coordination Committee.

    “We’ve demand to form coordination committee to sort out any kind of grievances within the NDA internally instead of going in public through media or other channels of communication,” Danish Rizwan-spokesperson of HAM said, adding that those who are trying to create confusion will be exposed.

    He said that whosoever from NDA making statements are giving a chance to the opposition for slamming the state government.

    Over the last few weeks, leaders of NDA constituents including JDU and BJP have tweeted contrary statements against each other.

    Earlier, Upendra Kushwaha had also tweeted in sarcastic tone on Jaiswal and asking PM Modi to follow what Nitish Kumar had done by granting reservation to girls in medical and engineering college admission.

    When another BJP leader Janak Ram also raised a voice against crimes perpetuated by some people of a particular community, the HAM chief Jitan Ram Manjhi had indirectly attacked on him tweeting that no one should attempt to disturb the cordial social bonding of Dalit and the minority people.

    “The Dalit-Muslims of the state are united. Those who are feeling pain in their stomach due to Dalit-Muslim unity, are raising their fingers on the Bihar government. In Bihar, the law is doing its job,” Manjhi said.

    The BJP leaders had alleged that atrocities on Dalits by Muslims in Purnia, Champaran, Gopalganj and Jamui were on the rise. The BJP minister in the government, Janak Ram, had said that the conversion of Mahadalits is being done in Gopalganj and Jamui.

    Sources from the NDA said that differences within the NDA particularly between BJP and the JDU are cropping up over many issues.

    The differences have widened further after the release of report of NITI Aayog in which Bihar has been ranked at worst in performance. The BJP leaders, trying to console Nitish Kumar, are saying that developments have taken place under his leadership but JDU is attributing the worst state performance to lack of special status to Bihar on the part of the union government.

    BJP leader and national general secretary of OBC wing Dr Nikhil Anand on being asked about the HAM demand said that the NDA is working on common agenda of crime and corruption free sustainable development of the state.

    “Nitish Kumar is excellently leading the state and coordinating well with all the alliance partners. There is no significance on the statement of any individual,” he added.

    But sources from NDA noted that the HAM had created division in the UPA also on the issue of formation of Coordination committee.

    Meanwhile, Leader of Opposition Tejashwi Yadav taking advantages of growing ruckus within the NDA termed the Nitish Kumar led government as a fungus imposed by the Election commission on Bihar in November.

    Reacting against Tejashwi statement, Dr Anand said, “If Tejashwi Yadav is saying Nitish Kumar government is a fungus, what is Tejashwi himself? He is a Chinese virus!” he said.