Houses of corrupt people to be converted to schools in Bihar

Patna, Apr 11: Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has said India was sitting on the powder keg of corruption and stressed that the country needs a spark to ignite a revolution as witnessed from the huge public response to social activist Anna Hazare's demands for a strong anti-graft bill.

"India is sitting on the powder keg of corruption. The people have united against corruption and now people should read and understand the writings on the wall. People are not going to tolerate corruption any more," Kumar said at a function after laying foundation of the ''Satyagraha Bhavan'' on the premises of Gandhi Museum here yesterday.

"The country only needs a spark to ignite a revolution, as was evident from the massive public response to anti-corruption effort of Gandhian Anna Hazare," he said.

Turning to his initiative to fight corruption, Kumar said members of his cabinet and officials from Grade III to Grade I have given details of assets on the website.

"We have enacted a law and have started sending corrupt public servants not only behind the bars, but have also taken legal steps to confiscate their properties," he said.

"We have launched a campaign to open schools in the houses of the corrupt," he said.

Kumar said Satyagraha Bhavan here would soon be constructed and would house things associated with the 1917 Champaran Satyagraha of Mahatma Gandhi to serve as inspiration for the youths.

"The legacies of both Gandhi and Jaiprakash Narayan were eternal," Kumar said adding that the replica of the spectacles of Mahatma, crafted by Sanjay Sinha of Munger, would be in a unique possession of the proposed bhawan.

Kumar said the state's future hinged on the development of agriculture. "Unless we generate employment opportunities from agriculture, Bihar cannot be a developed state," he said, adding he had formed a committee of ministers for development of agro-based industries, sugarcane units, animal husbandry, milk products and pisciculture.

PTI