A new Bihar

A day after the people of Bihar had voted the invincible Lalu Yadav out of power, I had left for Mumbai on yet another jittery journey. Almost a year after, I visited home. And nothing seems to have changed excpet for the half-done new overbridge that has come in place of the crumbling 'Chiraiyantad pull'.
The culture of flouting norms is as stark as it was during the 15 years of jungle raj. People still love to talk about their caste affiliations. Ministries and their bureaucrats are still decided by their proximity to politicians and social engineering. Roads are chaotic as ever, saabjiwallas have not yielded an inch, monster autos are spreading more pollution.
Though doctors are heaving a sigh of relief after a massive crackdown on kidnappers by the new government, the state healthcare system continues to be held ransom by the private doctors' mafia. No medicare for the poor. Even in the new regime, a private clinic is the only way out for all and sundry.
Funds are being snactioned for new projects but only to 'strengthen' the commission system that had been laid to rest in the last 15 years of no-development phase. So, the real benefeciaries of the emerging Bihar are the thousands of government officers who had been denied their share in the 15 years of Lalu-Rabri rule. Up for grabs.
Bihar on the path of peace, progress and prosperity!