Claiming to end prohibition in Bihar within an hour and provide quality education to the children, if elected to power, political strategist-turned-activist Prashant Kishor on Oct 2 launched his political party —Jan Suraaj Party—in the state capital exactly two years after he had embarked on over 3,000 km long 'padayatra' (journey by foot) of the state.
Kishor announced the appointment of an IITian and retired Indian Foreign Service (IFS) officer Manoj Bharti as its first working president till March when the organizational election will be held.
Bharti, a native of Madhubani district in north Bihar, had earlier served as India’s ambassador to countries including Ukraine, Belarus, Timor-Leste, and Indonesia.
Addressing a gathering at the local veterinary college ground in Patna, Kishor said that the Jan Suraaj Party would end prohibition within an hour of the formation of its government in the state.
“If elected, we will abolish prohibition within an hour,” he reaffirmed. Kishor said that the revenue collected after the end of prohibition would be spent on providing quality education to the children.
“Our new education system will be world-class. People from abroad will come to Bihar to pursue higher education as the state was earlier known for,” he added.
Three things—education, land, and capital—are the key factors to derive people from poverty but sadly all these are missing here, he said.
Criticizing what he claimed was ‘poor quality of education’ in Bihar, Kishor said that while government schools were providing ‘khichri’ (mid-day meal) to students, colleges in the state were distributing degrees only.
The state would require around ₹5 lakh crore in the next decade to improve the quality of education. The state is losing around ₹20,000 crore per annum due to the imposition of prohibition.
The money collected from liquor will not go to the state’s budget but will be spent on developing education infrastructure, he told the gathering.
“While children in the age group of 0-15 years will benefit from the new education system and hence will not prove as a burden on the state’s exchequer, people aged between 15-50 years will be made eligible to earn something between ₹ 10,000 and ₹ 12,000 per month,” he added.
To achieve this, Jan Suraaj will exert pressure on banks to provide loans to such people, he said. He regretted that the banks operating in Bihar were not giving loans to its denizens in proportionate to deposits (CD ration).
“We will ask the banks to provide loans to youths and women at annual interest of 4%, which will enable them to create job opportunities,” he added.
He alleged that money deposited by the people of Bihar in banks was spent on the development of states like Gujarat, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka, which goes against the state’s interest. “The banks will be forced to give ₹ 2.5 lakh crore as loan to youths and women as per CD ratio,” he said.
Jan Suraaj Party chief asserted people aged above 60 years will be provided with a pension of ₹ 2000 to lead their lives with dignity. To achieve this goal, ₹ 6000 crore will be required. “The state will get rid of the perennial problem of migration after job opportunities were created for them in their home state,” he said.
The former poll strategist also emphasized the need for the implementation of land reforms instead of the special land survey being conducted by the Nitish Kumar government in the state. He urged the people to vote for any political party keeping the future of their children in mind.
