Bihar Success Story- Rajnitish or even better, Simply Nitish! ( NitishJi "AcchaJi")

The historic landslide victory of the National Democratic Assembly (NDA) in the recently concluded Bihar elections has become a famous story overnight than the ever popular magical fairytales.  It has attracted the attention of various management gurus & the most admired political leaders across the world on the strategies and policies adopted which has brought about a magical turnaround in a place like Bihar which no one would have ever dreamt in the wildest of their dreams.

“East or west, India is the best”! Are we getting the order right? Or probably it should be, East is definitely the best and this credit goes to Mr.Nitish completely.

Many factors have contributed to the success story, that we have oflate been reading and hearing to. I have tried my best to summarize the crucial factors with statistics for all of us to comprehend –

5 Crucial Winning Factors for the Magical Success

I. Where there is a will, there is a ‘way ‘

'Roads' led Nitish's way back to power in Bihar! Sounds very simple but once we have a look at the statistics – we will all be persuaded to believe in the fact that if a political ‘will’ to do welfare for the people exists, then there is always a ‘way’ amidst all the difficulties.

Winning facts:

1.   The state now has 23,990.6 km of roads as against 384.6 km of roads in Bihar in 2004-05. Nitish Kumar took over the reins of the state in November 2005.

2.   The plan outlay on roads forms around 30 per cent of the total state plan size against a meagre 5-6 per cent in past years,

3.   The state carried improvement of 1,722 km of National Highways out of their own limited resources, besides the construction of state highways, district and rural roads.

4.   Strict quality monitoring of the roads is maintained through third party inspection and random checking by flying squads comprising of highly qualified engineers. 

5.   1,671 bridges have been constructed in the state during the period. 

6.   Bihar State Bridge Corporation turnover has increased from Rs 42.62 crore in 2004-5 to Rs 923 crore in the fiscal 2009-10.

 II.Behind every successful man, there is a woman

It is said that, for the first time ever, the electoral percentage turnout amongst women has been the highest!

Not quite getting into how this proverb originated, however Mr Lalu Prasad Yadav quite received an answer to his statement when he mentioned just one day before the elections that – “Women vote how men tell them to”.  

The various policies that have been rolled out specifically for the women folks of Bihar has led to their upliftment in the society.

Winning facts:

1. Nitish’s ‘Mukhyamantri Yojana’ which entitles a free cycle to every girl who has cleared eighth class

2. Strict process to ensure that the schools are functioning and the teacher absenteeism has been eliminated

3. Started a direct account cash transfer scheme wherein Rs 2000 was set aside for girls who entered 9^th grade as a result of which high school enrolment for girls has tripled in the last 3 years.

4. Separate roads and lanes for the girls to ensure their safety.

III. “Justice is blind”- Satyameva Jayathe

In the current political scenario, it wouldn’t be inappropriate if one argues and is satirical about the existence of a fair and proper judiciary system in India.

But yet again, thanks to Mr.Nitish for reinstalling the confidence back in all of us by diverting our attention to the drastically improving law and order structure in Bihar.

Winning facts:

1.54000 people had been sent behind bars (as per the cumulative data) proving the fact that conviction is a continual process.

2. Several upright senior Police Officers who had been completely sidelined during the Lalu Rabri era have been unshackled.    

3. The centrally sponsored Fast Track Court scheme has been embraced by the state wherein more and more cases are transferred to the FTC especially those belonging to high profile criminal politicians (even those from his own JDU Party) 

4. More than 26000 convictions have taken place in the last 2 years alone. Several dreaded political criminals have been awarded capital punishment and lesser sentences.

5. The ‘Janta Durbar’ program has been reinitiated, wherein every Monday morning, he along with his key ministers and top bureaucrats meet complainants who approach him

IV. All men are equal in the eyes of God

The stupendous success of Nitish Kumar has proved that development is not just a code word for only the privileged class or the special caste of people in Bihar; it is infact the development of all the ‘Biharis’. He has also proved that development is far beyond the shackles of casteism, which has been so prevalent in the state until he took over.

Winning Facts:

1.      Several schemes have been launched for the Muslim community (such as ‘Hunar’) and ‘Urdu’ teachers have been recruited in bulk.

2.      Mahadalit Vikas Mission  was founded and a flood of schemes have been launched to directly target succour to this community.

3.      Apart from symbolic gestures of admitting a large number of Muslim Leaders to his party (JDU) and attending Muslim festivities, he drafted a Muslim bureaucrat for the critical Home Secretary position

4.      Convicting the main accused of Bhagalpur riots of 1989 therefore distributing relief to its victims on the lines of Delhi 1984 Sikh riots.

V. “Persistence is the twin sister of excellence. One is a matter of quality; the other, a matter of time.”

It’s relatively easy to launch an initiative with great enthusiasm and fanfare but to ensure it is a continuous process without allowing the initial energy to die down by means of proper check in mechanisms is what differentiates a stupendous success from an average one! Mr.Nitish drove numerous policies but at the same time did a reality check to ensure the same is sustained for years to come which eventually has led to his magical success. By doing so, he has positioned himself as a ‘doer’!

Finally, it’s generally said that the writings on the wall before the elections highlight the socio –economic condition of the state better than all the surveys, campaigns, poll results etc.The writings on the wall this time said –“It’s time to fill in your pen with ink” as against the last time where it was written-“It’s time again to season your lathis in oil”. This reflects the changing mood in Bihar from caste empowerment to aspiration for education & better living conditions.

This magical success will definitely not allow other states from not changing to a better one thereby ensuring a developed India in the next few years to come. And if this dream of every Indian becomes a reality soon, somebody who will remembered and thanked throughout ,will be ‘Simply Nitish ‘-The Pioneer of Magical Change In India!

References

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com

http://www.nobribe.org/changing-bihar-slowly

‘Independent’ Married Woman? What Confusion!

It’s  no doubt, an ecstatic feeling being branded as an independent woman! But is the term ‘independence’ being grossly misunderstood in this contemporary age by the modern day women folks? Does this term get even seriously misinterpreted by today’s married women? Of late the views aired on various television channels through the programs relating to matrimony & marriages, somehow strongly display the mindset of today’s women on independency as just being directly proportional to their financial quotient; earning money more than or equivalent to their husbands and being increasingly conscientious about the progress in their professional carrier. 

But the big question here is, is it fair to define such a significant but gracious word in such a simple way? Perhaps not! As Maya Angelou says -"A bird doesn't sing because it has an answer, it sings because it has a song."Similarly a woman is not branded as independent because she has the power to spend; she is characterized to be independent by her belief in herself and her potential to get things done without depending on everybody for a majority of needs. When majority of people depend on her for their various needs, this I would call as independency. And these ‘dependencies’ are not most of the time, just financial. They can be physical, emotional, mental, material etc.

There are numerous attributes that compliment an independent woman, apart from the financial ability, which of course is vital. To name few-

1. It is important to define who and what you are for yourself. 
2. Care about other people. People who don't care about other people are not whole, and you can't be independent and strong if you're not whole. As Ms Sushmita Sen rightly said during the last round of the Miss Universe Pageant – “A woman is a gift of God. She teaches the world what caring, sharing and loving is all about!” That’s the essence of being a women 
3. Do not ever try to imitate men. Connect with yourself. Understand that you are a woman and you don't necessarily need to be like a man to be independent, many men are not independent, they could be financially independent, but not emotionally independent.
4. Accept responsibility for your life. Move from a "victim mentality" to a "creator mentality". 

There is also a very common thinking that those qualified & highly educated women who prefer to be a good home maker and progress in their personal life are not independent. Our belief that a highly educated woman should utilize all her knowledge for their professional life and not ruin the same by sitting at home looking after the daily chores, is not justified in my opinion. A successful personal life is equally important and education really helps in achieving the same as it facilitates proper decision making, which is integral for the happiness of the family. It’s relatively easy to choose one from Right Vs Wrong but it becomes increasingly difficult when you need to choose the best option from two wrong choices or two right choices! This is where the ‘education factor ‘comes into play.

To cut the long story short, Independence is about being flexible and adapting to changing situations. Independence is about being your own support system, independence is about accepting that you are responsible for anything and everything in your life and that YOU can change that whenever you wish. Independence is about trusting yourself, believing in yourself.