Nitish to re-start his janata darbar from February 1

After a long break, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar is set to resume his popular 'janata durbar' (people's court) from February 1 to listen to the grievances of the people, an official said here on Friday.

The 'janata durbar' was discontinued last year in view of the model code of conduct for the assembly elections and remained suspended through October and November during which polls were held, Atish Chandra, an official at the Chief Minister Office, said.

"He is now likely to hold the first durbar in his third term as chief minister on February 1," Chandra said.

The janata durbar, to be held at Nitish Kumar's official residence here, would be made more transparent and will provide more help to the people, officials said.

Widely seen as the brainchild of Nitish Kumar, the practice started in April 2006, about five months after he first came to power.

There was no past example of any regular programme in Bihar of a chief minister interacting directly with the common man.

It was an instant hit with hundreds of people from the different parts of the state, particularly rural areas, thronging to the chief minister's residence in the hope that their grievances would be personally heard and redressed by the chief minister.

Nitish Kumar did seem to be acting on people's complaints, often immediately ordering the officials concerned, particularly the police, to take action in a matter.

Encouraged by the response to the initiative in the state capital, the chief minister then started to hold similar janata durbars in district headquarters.

A senior ruling Janata Dal-United (JD-U) legislator considered close to Nitish Kumar said the people's grievances were an eye-opener for the government.