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Congress MP Rahul Gandhi on Sunday made a fervent appeal to the youth of Bihar to participate in the White T-Shirt movement, beginning Monday, in huge numbers to send across a strong message that people of the state won’t get swayed away anymore and they are ready to write their own destiny.

The Leader of Opposition issued a video appeal on his social media account, seeking success of the White T-shirt movement in Bihar, ahead of his visit to Bihar’s Begusarai district on April 7.The Stop Migration, Give Jobs Yatra will give the world a glimpse of your struggle, suffering and also the sentiments of Bihar’s youth,” he said in the video message and urged them to ‘show their strength’.

“This message is for every resident of Bihar. I will visit Begusarai on April 7. I will walk shoulder to shoulder with you and raise your voice on issues of inflation, unemployment, privatisation, paper leaks and all other issues that adversely affect you and your families,” he said in the video.

The purpose of the ‘Palayan Yatra’ is to mobilise the energy of youth to build a new Bihar and make it a land of fresh opportunities.Bihar youth won’t be misled now or bow down before anyone. They will move together and build a new future for themselves,” he said while appealing youth to share the video among their circles.

Rahul’s visit to Bihar, where Assembly elections are slated later this year, comes days after the Congress party declared new district presidents in the state. AICC appointed new presidents and working presidents in all 40 organisational districts of Bihar last week.

During his visit, Mr Gandhi is also expected to review the party’s poll strategy with all new district heads and draw a roadmap for upcoming elections.

Meanwhile, the BJP has objected sharply to Congress MP’s visit to Bihar and said that this will end in another fiasco for the party.

Rahul Gandhi has drowned the entire Congress ship. He will do the same in Bihar too. Wherever he goes, Congress sinks. Chhattisgarh, Haryana, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, and Delhi are some examples. I thank Rahul Gandhi for sinking the Congress ship and wasting his youth in doing so. He has turned into a 55-year-old youth now. He will sink Congress in Bihar too,” BJP state chief Dilip Jaiswal said mockingly, while speaking to IANS.

The Bihar government on Tuesday allowed a 30 per cent hike in the salary and allowances of those holding posts of minister of state and deputy minister, an official said.

The decision was taken in the state cabinet meeting chaired by Chief Minister Nitish Kumar.

The whips of various parties in the Legislative Assembly and Council, chairman and members of various state commissions and boards enjoy the status, salary and allowances commensurate with those of the minister of state in Bihar.

Posts of deputy chairman and deputy chief whips are equivalent to deputy minister.

“Those holding posts of the rank of minister of state and deputy minister will now be getting a monthly salary Rs 65,000 per month, an increase of Rs 15,000 from the previous Rs 50,000 per month salary,” Additional Chief Secretary (Cabinet Secretariat), S Siddharth, told reporters after the cabinet meeting.

Their local allowance has been increased from Rs 55,000 to Rs 70,000 per month, daily allowances hiked from Rs 3,000 to 3,500, while hospitality allowance has been increased from Rs 24,000 to Rs 29,500 for those holding the posts of the rank of minister of state.

The hospitality allowance for the posts of the rank of deputy minister has been increased from Rs 23,500 to Rs 29,000, Mr Siddharth said.

Their local allowance has been increased from Rs 55,000 to Rs 70,000 per month. (File)

Patna:

The Bihar government on Tuesday allowed a 30 per cent hike in the salary and allowances of those holding posts of minister of state and deputy minister, an official said.

The decision was taken in the state cabinet meeting chaired by Chief Minister Nitish Kumar.

The whips of various parties in the Legislative Assembly and Council, chairman and members of various state commissions and boards enjoy the status, salary and allowances commensurate with those of the minister of state in Bihar.

Posts of deputy chairman and deputy chief whips are equivalent to deputy minister.

“Those holding posts of the rank of minister of state and deputy minister will now be getting a monthly salary Rs 65,000 per month, an increase of Rs 15,000 from the previous Rs 50,000 per month salary,” Additional Chief Secretary (Cabinet Secretariat), S Siddharth, told reporters after the cabinet meeting.

Their local allowance has been increased from Rs 55,000 to Rs 70,000 per month, daily allowances hiked from Rs 3,000 to 3,500, while hospitality allowance has been increased from Rs 24,000 to Rs 29,500 for those holding the posts of the rank of minister of state.

The hospitality allowance for the posts of the rank of deputy minister has been increased from Rs 23,500 to Rs 29,000, Mr Siddharth said.

Earlier, there used to be three types of ministers in Bihar- cabinet minister, minister of state and deputy minister. At present, there is no provision of deputy minister in the state government. There is not even a single minister of state in the Nitish Kumar cabinet at present. All ministers in Chief Minister Nitish Kumar’s cabinet are cabinet ministers.

The Cabinet also approved proposals for the creation of more than 26,000 posts in different departments in the state government.

“The Cabinet approved the creation of three directorates–Public Health Directorate, Health Services Directorate and Medical Education Directorate-within the health department for its effective functions. A proposal for the creation of 20,016 posts in these directorates was also approved by the cabinet. Besides, the Cabinet approved creation of 3306 posts of translators in the Urdu Directorate,” said the officer.The Cabinet also gave its nod to the creation of the Bihar Education Administration Cadre rule-2025 for monitoring and improvement in the quality of education in the state, he said adding that separate posts will be created for it in all blocks in the state.

The Union education ministry sought a report from the Bihar Police’s Economic Offences Unit on Wednesday regarding alleged irregularities in the conduct of the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (UG) 2024 in Patna, officials said.

There have been allegations of question paper leaks in states like Bihar and other irregularities in the prestigious exam. The allegations have led to protests in several cities and the filing of petitions in several high courts as well as the Supreme Court.

“Regarding certain irregularities alleged in the conduct of the examination in Patna, a detailed report has been sought from the Economic Offences Unit, Bihar Police. The government will take further action on receipt of this report,” a senior official of the ministry said.

The government is committed to ensuring the sanctity of examinations and protect the interest of students. It is reiterated that any individual or organisation found involved in this matter will face the strictest action,” the official added.

Observing that students have to work hard while preparing for these examinations, the Supreme Court has said the litigation pertaining to the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (Undergraduate)-2024 ought not be treated as adversarial.

The Centre and the National Testing Agency on June 13 told the top court that they had cancelled the grace marks given to 1,563 candidates, who took the examination for admission to MBBS and other such courses.

The Union education ministry sought a report from the Bihar Police’s Economic Offences Unit on Wednesday regarding alleged irregularities in the conduct of the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (UG) 2024 in Patna, officials said.

There have been allegations of question paper leaks in states like Bihar and other irregularities in the prestigious exam. The allegations have led to protests in several cities and the filing of petitions in several high courts as well as the Supreme Court.

“Regarding certain irregularities alleged in the conduct of the examination in Patna, a detailed report has been sought from the Economic Offences Unit, Bihar Police. The government will take further action on receipt of this report,” a senior official of the ministry said.

“The government is committed to ensuring the sanctity of examinations and protect the interest of students. It is reiterated that any individual or organisation found involved in this matter will face the strictest action,” the official added.

Observing that students have to work hard while preparing for these examinations, the Supreme Court has said the litigation pertaining to the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (Undergraduate)-2024 ought not be treated as adversarial.

The Centre and the National Testing Agency on June 13 told the top court that they had cancelled the grace marks given to 1,563 candidates, who took the examination for admission to MBBS and other such courses.

The candidates will have the option to either take a retest or forgo the compensatory marks awarded to them for the loss of time, the Centre had said.

The examination was held on May 5 across 4,750 centres and around 24 lakh candidates appeared for it. Its results were expected to be declared on June 14 but were announced on June 4, apparently because the evaluation of the answer sheets was completed earlier. 

The police arrested a person from Bihar’s Araria district for his alleged involvement in duping medical aspirants ahead of the NEET-UG held on May four across the country.

The arrested fraudster was accused of providing the “question paper” of the exam to the aspirants in exchange for money, the police said on Monday.

The sleuths of the Economic Offences Unit (EOU) and Araria Police picked up the accused on May 3.

“Acting on a tip-off that a group of fraudsters were allegedly taking money from NEET aspirants, falsely promising them to provide question paper ahead of the exam, EOU alerted its cyber unit in Araria and the district police. A team was formed and SK Faiz was arrested for duping medical aspirants,” the EOU said in a statement.

Investigations also revealed that the accused defrauded students and got money transferred to his account from them, it said.

Further investigation is on, it added.

The Bhar police had warned aspirants and parents against phone calls made by cyber fraudsters luring them to provide question papers ahead of the NEET-UG exam.

The EOU last month arrested Sanjeev Kumar Singh alias Sanjeev Mukhiya, the alleged mastermind of the NEET (UG)-24 paper leak case from Patna. He was also wanted in connection with his alleged involvement in the paper leak case of the Bihar Public Service Commission Teacher Recruitment Exam (TRE-3) held in March 2024.

According to officials, Mukhiya’s gang is spread across Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Punjab and Rajasthan and it was behind paper leaks in several recruitment exams in several states.The new law will be passed by the assembly in the upcoming monsoon session of the state legislature, Mr Chaudhary said.

“Following the direction of Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, the state government is going to introduce a stringent law to check cases of question paper leaks in Bihar,” he told PTI.

The monsoon session of the Bihar assembly and state legislative council will be held from July 22 to July 26, spanning five sittings.

“The central government has already notified the Public Examinations (Prevention of Unfair Means) Act, 2024, which aims to prevent unfair means in public examinations and common entrance tests held across the country. Now, the Bihar government has also decided to bring a law, which will curb paper leaks and malpractices in recruitment examinations,” the deputy CM said.

On the CBI probe into the NEET-UG paper leaks, he said, “The investigation is underway… no one will be spared.” The arrested accused were produced before a special court in Patna on Thursday, which sent them to judicial custody, officials said, adding the CBI will now seek the duo’s remand to quiz them.

Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, who is looking for a fifth consecutive term in office, on Sunday asserted that he will “remain” in the NDA, crediting the BJP for his rise to power.

Mr Kumar, the JD(U) supremo, reiterated the stand while addressing the inaugural ceremony of Khelo India Youth Games, in which thousands of young athletes from across the country are participating.

The longest-serving CM, who has changed partners several times in the last decade, said, “I am going to remain here always. My party made me go here and there a couple of times earlier. But this is not going to happen again. Who made me (the CM)? It was late Atal Bihari Vajpayee.”

Notably, Mr Kumar has been a BJP ally since the mid-1990s, but he parted ways in 2013, following dissatisfaction with Narendra Modi, his then Gujarat counterpart, gaining national prominence.

Though his party got drubbed in the Lok Sabha polls a year later, and Narendra Modi became the prime minister, Mr Kumar succeeded in holding his ground, thanks to a short-lived alliance with arch rival Lalu Prasad, the RJD president, whom he dumped in 2017 to return to the NDA.

The alliance continued till 2022, when Mr Kumar joined hands with the RJD-led Mahagathbandhan, vowing to defeat the BJP, accusing the former ally of having tried to split the JD(U).

However, ahead of the Lok Sabha polls last year, the septuagenarian returned to the NDA, abandoning the INDIA bloc he had helped form by bringing together parties that were opposed to the BJP.

Mr Kishor and Mr Singh alleged that contractors have “hijacked” the JD(U).

Mr Kishor called on JD(U) workers to desert the “sinking ship”, claiming that it was being run by “five contractors” rather than seasoned politicians.

The Jan Suraaj Party founder alleged that contractors with no political background make key decisions in the JD(U) and the state government.

“Nitish Kumar neither runs the party nor the government. Ask the five people running JD(U) to name even a district president of their party – they won’t be able to answer,” he claimed.

Tejashwi Yadav also took a jab at CM Nitish over his recent remark that there was nothing in Bihar before 2005.

In response, Tejashwi said, “2005 has frozen in Nitish Kumar’s mind. Before that, the voices of the people were heard, and bureaucracy didn’t dominate. Retired chief ministers and officers didn’t run Bihar.”

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