There has been a huge decline in the number of people from Bihar coming to Mumbai, the country’s financial capital, in search of employment, Bihar Industries Minister Samir Kumar Mahaseth said on Monday. More than 15 lakh people have registered to live and work in Bihar, the minister added.

In Mumbai to attend the Investors’ Summit, Mahaseth said most people who returned to Bihar during the coronavirus pandemic have now found employment in Bihar itself. He said very few may have returned to Mumbai for their livelihood.

The Bihar government’s employment portal has seen 15,29,000 people register themselves for various jobs, and the age of a large number of them is less than 35 years. Not only to Mumbai, the number of Biharis returning to other parts of the country has also decreased, said the minister.

Mahaseth claimed the working people who returned to Bihar no longer wanted to leave their homes and had chosen to work in Bihar itself. “They want to stay in the state and create employment for others.” He said the Bihar government has come up with new proposals for 40,000 small-scale industries for its migrant labourers so that more and more people can be provided employment.

Mahaseth said the Nitish Kumar government wants to change the image of Bihar. “We are taking Bihar from consumer to producer. We are focused on developing clusters for areas within clusters also get a chance to be developed.”

He said the recent caste and economic survey conducted in Bihar found that the population in Bihar has increased, and many of them are people who returned to Bihar during the pandemic but did not return. People in Bihar now want to live with their families, he said.

At the ongoing Bihar Investment Summit in Mumbai, Industries Department Director Pankaj Dixit said with the increasing demand for energy, Bihar is aiming to become the number one state in bio-fuels. Bihar has received 33 applications for bio-fuels of which 17 have been approved and 5 have started functioning. He said the state is aiming for sustainable industrial development along with bio-fuel consumption. He said that Bihar has become the first state to approve bio-fuel policy.

In the investor meeting of the Industries Department, the Bihar government said all logistics support will be provided to companies investing in Bihar. Dixit said more than 40 investors have shown interest in investing in Bihar in the Mumbai Investor Summit, including industrial groups, Aristo, Alkem, Godrej, and Kamat. Dixit said he has invited many companies to the Global Investor Summit to be held in the state on December 13 and 14.

The chief minister of Bihar, Nitish Kumar on Wednesday, went to inaugurate a ‘digital library’ in Banka district where he noticed the language of the signboard of the newly established ‘digital library’ and asked the officials to change the signboard as the information was written in the English language.

CM Kumar said he respects the English language but  Hindi is a part of the tradition. He further schooled the officials saying you are ending the importance of the Hindi language, adding that it is our language. Officials present at the moment were asked to change the board by CM Kumar.  

In March, Kumar made headlines for ridiculing a farmer who used English words in his speech at an event, demonstrating his consistent disapproval of the use of English in public settings.

Nitish Kumar reminded the farmer that using smartphones during COVID-19 was causing people to distance themselves from their own language in Bharat, Bihar.

Look at what has happened to people. They are distancing themselves from their language, Kumar interrupted, when people learn words through smartphones. Is it England, Kumar questioned the farmer. Your language should be used since you have been conversing with farmers in Bihar and Bharat, Nitish Kumar said.

As per the reports, the Chief Minister of Bihar carried out unannounced inspections at several government offices and discovered that a considerable number of ministers from his cabinet were missing in action. The observations revealed that while the majority of the ministers belonging to his party, JD(U), were present, a significant number of ministers from his alliance party, RJD, were found to be absent, the reports added.

According to reports, the development occurred amidst speculations that CM Kumar may switch alliances and join the BJP.

During the G20 event, the Prime Minister cordially introduced Nitish Kumar to none other than the esteemed US President Joe Biden.

It was worth noting that this was the initial encounter between PM Modi and Nitish Kumar following the latter’s party, JD(U), ending its affiliation with the BJP last year. Instead, they joined the Mahagathbandhan and formed a government with RJD and other opposition parties. 

In a shocking incident, Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) leader Anwar Khan was shot dead in broad daylight by unknown assailants in Bihar’s Gaya. The leader belongs to the faction led by Pashupati Kumar Paras. 

According to reports, LJP leader Anwar Khan who was the state president of the LPJ’s labour cell was at a salon on Wednesday when three unidentified assailants on bike opened fire. Following this, the leader was killed instantly. 

Reports further stated that people in the area fled from the scene as panic gripped in the neighbourhood. All the shops and other activities were immediately shut down as a protective measure. 

Meanwhile, furious residents and Anwar Khan’s family staged a protest by blocking National Highway 82 after the incident took place. A senior police official concerned to the matter asserted that police forces have been deployed at the scene and a forensic team has also been sent to gather evidence. At present, an investigation is carried out in the matter.

Earlier in August, a journalist with a prominent Hindi daily was shot dead by four unidentified assailants at the doorstep of his home in Bihar’s Araria district. The journalist was likely to testify as a prime witness in his younger brother’s 2019 murder. The journalist was gunned down three days after the death of a police officer who was shot by suspected cattle smugglers in Samastipur.

The policeman was critically injured after alleged cattle smugglers opened fire on him in Bihar’s Samastipur. Assistant Sub-Inspector Nandkishore Yadav was shot near his left eye and was undergoing treatment in a hospital. However, he succumbed to his injuries during the treatment.  

Nadikishore Yadav was acting on a tip-off and intercepted a truck that was illegally transporting cattle and arrested three alleged smugglers. The accused was taken to the police station, their associates too reached the spot and opened fire on Yadav and escaped.