Natives of Bihar staying outside will also be counted, says Nitish

Patna: CM Nitish Kumar on Monday said the natives of Bihar staying outside would also be counted during the caste-based headcount in the state.
He also said the suicide by five members of a family at Mau village in Samastipur district was “very saddening” and the officials were assessing the reason behind such an incident. “I personally enquired about it,” he said after his weekly janata darbar programme.
Five members of a debt-ridden family were found hanging at their house under Vidyapatinagar police station area on Sunday morning. The deceased were identified as Manoj Jha (42), his wife Sundermani Devi (38), his mother Sita Devi (65) and sons Satyam (10) and Shivam (7). Manoj’s sister Reena Jha said he had taken Rs3 lakh as loan from some moneylenders five years back and they were pressurising him to repay around Rs17 lakh as principal amount with interest.
Responding to queries about the proposed caste-based headcount, Nitish said it is for the benefit of all people. “Members of all castes and all religions will be counted,” he said. The CM said even retired persons who have experience of conducting census in the past would be engaged for the caste-based count of population.
When asked about the missing records of 3.9 lakh acres of Bhoodan land, Nitish said a committee headed by retired IAS officer A K Choudhary had been formed to investigate the matter.
He also said his government would organise a series of special events to mark the golden jubilee year of Loknayak Jayaprakash Narayan-led ‘Sampoorna Kranti Diwas’ in 2024. Nitish said he was part of the massive public meeting on June 5, 1974 at Patna’s Gandhi Maidan from where JP had given a call for total revolution in the country. Nitish said it was his government which started observing the ‘Sampoorna Kranti Diwas’ on June 5 every year.
When asked that he had not gone on any foreign trip for the last several years, Nitish said he would plan a visit only after the Covid-19 pandemic fully subsides in the state. The CM heard the grievances of altogether 173 visitors at his janata darbar programme and issued necessary instructions to the officials concerned for solving their problems.