Patna: State Congress president Akhilesh Prasad Singh on Sunday alleged that Bihar performed “quite poorly” in the past 20 years under the leadership of CM Nitish Kumar and the next assembly polls would prove to be the last one for the JD(U) chief.
Addressing a press conference, Singh cited reports from the NITI Aayog and CAG to highlight how the Bihar lagged behind the other states in terms of development despite the NDA being in power since 2005.
“There are a total of 36 states and Union territories in the country. It is surprising that Bihar figures at the bottom—36th place—in the development index, as per the latest report of the NITI Aayog. The state also figures at the same spot in terms of education. This means no development work took place in the state all these years,” Singh told the reporters on Sunday.
Citing the NITI Aayog report, the Congress chief further stated that 26.59% of people live below the poverty line, which is also very high. “While the rural literacy rate is 43%, which is much below the national average, 94.7% of schools don’t have separate toilets for girls,” Singh said. He alleged the PM in his Independence Day address once announced separate toilets for girl students, but the actual figures tell a different story.
Speaking on crime, Singh, also a Rajya Sabha member, said Bihar has the highest number of crimes against women, and there is a continuous increase in cyber fraud cases too. He said despite the increase in cyber police stations, the pace of action on these cases is very slow.
Talking about the smart prepaid meters, he said that the former secretary of the energy department has been arrested in this matter. “However, the four companies that benefited from him have not faced any action so far,” he said.