Bihar moots ordinance to bar criminals from civic polls

By Our Staff Correspondent

PATNA, JULY 11. With the RJD-led government not intent on holding the usual monsoon session of the bicameral Bihar legislature, it has, as a natural corollary, fallen back on ordinance Raj, for which the State was once rather infamous, to meet its executive responsibilities.

After several years, the Rabri Devi government for the first time in over several years presented a full budget this year, but having done the laudatory job, it is now dithering in convening the monsoon session, which in the past was used to pass the budget of the State. The State Government seems to have made up its mind to hold a brief session of the Legislature in September just to meet the constitutional requirement of not allowing six months to lapse between two sessions.

The consequence of this action is that the State Government is pushing through a series of ordinances, a couple of which are consequential to the politico-economic conditions of the State, reeling as it does under the impact of growing criminalisation of politics and a real fiscal problem following its bifurcation.

In a significant move, the State Government has approved a draft ordinance seeking to impose a ban on criminals, convicted for more than six months, from contesting the forthcoming municipal elections. Of course, it applies to those criminals convicted in crimes other than those of a political nature.

The government has initiated for the first time some action on containing the entry of criminals into politics even if at just the lower level in the wake of the large scale entry of anti- social elements in the recently concluded Panchayat elections. The presence of muscle power and clashes between dons had resulted in violence in these elections which even in the estimation of the police claimed no less than 100 lives.

The government fears that the situation in the elections to the urban bodies could be more dangerous and bloody. In a desperate bid to contain criminalisation of politics and bloodshed, the State Government has proposed amendments to the Bihar Municipalities Act and the Patna Municipal Corporation Act, the two laws which govern the municipal bodies in the State.

The amendments also seek to debar defaulters owing municipal taxes from entering the fray. These two ordinances have been forwarded to the Governor, Mr. V. C. Pandey, for promulgation.

But the second ordinance betrays the Government's lack of concern for its financial travails. The proposed ordinance heaps financial boon on members of the Council of Ministers besides the presiding officers of the two Houses of the State Legislature.

The Cabinet at its meeting doubled the allowances permitted to its Ministers, allowing a monthly increase of Rs.12,000 under field and entertainment allowances, besides hiking their daily allowances by over Rs.200 from Rs.301 to Rs.501. This will entail an annual expenditure of Rs.1.2 crores on the already fund starved exchequer.

The government's decision, of course, needs the Raj Bhawan's approval. Earlier, the Governor had sat over a similar ordinance which had sought to increase the pay packet of legislators. The government had to bend to the Governor's protestations and scaled down the package eventually.

After obfuscating for several years, the State Government has finally decided to afford UGC pay scales to its 12,000 college and university teachers which would, however, mean demotion to several teachers who had been given promotion under State Government guidelines.

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