Nitish says Bihar's inclusive growth motto inspired by 1857

Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar today said that the inclusive growth motto of the state was inspired by 1857 hero Veer Kuer Singh who had a vision to assign responsibilites to people according to their abilities irrespective of caste, religion and gender.

Kumar said he drew inspiration from life of Kuer Singh, the ruler of Jagdishpur estate and one of the heroes of the Revolt of 1957, who "had the vision to assign responsibilities to people according to their abilities more than a century ago, irrespective of religion, caste and gender".

The CM was speaking here at a seminar organized on the eve of the legendary 1857 warrior's 160th death anniversary. Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Kumar Modi and Industry minister Jai Kumar Singh was present with him among others.

"The life and journey of Veer Kuer Singh had not remained confined to Bihar. He had left his imprint on a major part of the country. The role played by Bihar in the first war of Independence also led to it earning the wrath of the colonial rulers which, in turn, led to its relative backwardness", he said.

Kumar also said "today we are witnessing lots of tension in the society. The situation has been made more explosive by the proliferation of social media. Though I have nothing to say against technological advancements, if we do not take care to maintain peace, order and harmony,the world may come to an end sooner than the 200-year deadline given by late Physicist Stephen Hawking".

"We have been running the government on the ideals of Mahatma Gandhi who began his journey in India from Champaran. We have celebrated the centenary of Champaran Satyagrah.

"We also draw inspiration from Veer Kuer Singh who died 160 years ago but even in those days had the foresight to judge a person on merit and assign responsibilities to all " men,women, extremely backward classes and the minorities", Kumar said.

The Chief Minister also released a book based on the life of Kuer Singh and spoke on the need for apprising the young generation of the many facets of the legendary figure"s personality "whose greatness was not limited to his role in the Revolt of 1857".

Speaking at the same function, Deputy CM Sushil Kumar Modi paid rich tributes to Kuer Singh and said "had there been no 1857, we would not have attained Independence by 1947. It is, for us, a matter of pride that Bihar has played such an important role in these movements".