Law and order back on the rails in Bihar : Modi

Lucknow, Dec 23 (UNI) Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Kumar Modi today claimed that the state has successfully rid of its ''jungle raj'' image thanks to the last 13 months of Janata Dal (U) and BJP coalition rule and said that the state was proceeding on the path of development.

Reporting to the party National Council about the 13-month-old coalition rule in Bihar, Mr Modi who is the state Finance minister, said after the new government took over, there was hardly any major instance of kidnapping, which had become an order of the day during the 15-year-long Lalu-Rabri regime.

He said over 5000 criminals were put behind the bars including, a dozen legislators who were facing trial.

He said there has been no interference in the working of law implementation agencies now. ''Unlike in the past there is no patronage or interference,'' he said.

Mr Modi said appointing over 5,000 retired army personnel in the police force had brought in a dramatic improvement in the law and order situation and the Centre was actively considering to imitate Bihar's experiment, he remarked.

The state had appointed retired CBI personnel in the Vigillance Department and all cases pertaining to disproportionate assets were ''automatically being pursued by the CBI'', he said.

The state government, he said was in the process of recruiting 2.35 lakh teachers for primary, middle and secondary schools in the state, one of the biggest recruitment exercises undertaken by the state.

He said the state had dispatched about 1000 fish farmers to Andhra Pradesh to undergo 10-days training and it has had positive impact on the pisciculture industry which has a lot of potential in the state. Similarly, several batches of farmers were sent for training in a private hatchery in Pune at the government cost.

Several medical and engineering and law school institutions were in the process of starting their colleges in the state giving a ''healthy look'' to the higher education scenario, he informed.

He said the Japanese Government is keen to fund the revival of the famous Nalanda University to its past glory and the state government had provided a fund of Rs 9 crore towards the end.

The state, which often accused of not spending money specially on projects which would usher in development, spent Rs 4,000 crores in the first seven months of this fiscal on various infrastructural and developmental projects shrugging off its 15 years of negative image, the senior BJP leader claimed.

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