Nitish inaugurates 368 schemes during yatra; says discussion on Bihar's R-Day tableau irrelevant

Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Saturday inaugurated and laid foundation stones of 368 projects worth Rs 2,300 crore during an event under his government's 'Jal-Jeevan-Hariyali' campaign that seeks to boost green cover and the water table in the state.

Addressing a public meeting in Khagaria district, he termed irrelevant the discussion on the state's tableau not being short-listed for this year's Republic Day Parade.

"Issues relating to Bihar have been showcased through tableau at the Republic Day parade on earlier occasions. Hence, there is no need to worry about it," a statement quoted him as saying.

Kumar stressed on the importance of keeping environment intact. He asked people to be aware of climate change and its adverse impact, an official statement said.

On his meeting with billionaire philanthropist and Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates, who had come to Patna on November 17, the chief minister said Gates was very impressed with the 'Jal-Jeevan-Hariyali' campaign.

"Gates was so much impressed with the Jal-Jiwan-Hariyali drive that he said that discussions on climate change are not being held alone in France, England, America etc but also in Bihar's Patna with as much concern," Kumar was quoted as saying in the statement.

The chief minister urged people to participate in a human chain in the state on January 19 in support of prohibition and raise awareness on climate change, practise of dowry and child marriage.

Four crore people participated during a human chain formed on January 21, 2017, in support of prohibition while another human chain was formed on 14,000-km stretch on the same date in 2018 against dowry and child marriage, he said.

Several senior leaders of the JD(U) and the BJP were also present on the occasion.

Prominent among those who addressed the meeting included local MP Choudhary Mahboob Ali Kaiser, MLAs Ramanand Prasad Singh, Panna Lal Singh Patel, Poonam Devi, Sone Lal Mehta, Chief Secretary Deepak Kumar, DGP Gupteshwar Pandey, Khagaria DM Anirudh Kumar.