M.J. PRABU

The villagers do not have a proper marketing channel to help them

Welcome trend: Farmers of Kothia village in Samastipur district, Bihar seen in front of the village entrance.

Bs Reporter / New Delhi July 31, 2008, 3:43 IST

Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has appealed to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to remove the recently-imposed ban on maize exports. At 1.7 million tonnes, the state accounts for 10 per cent of the country's total maize output.

"The recent ban on export has led to depressed market conditions. The price of maize before the ban hovered around Rs 732 a quintal. Now, it has now crashed to Rs 500-600 a quintal. The procurement of maize by buyers has also come down drastically,' Kumar has stated in a letter to the PM.

Ramlal, a rickshaw puller in Delhi, regrets his decision four years ago to vote for the Congress. He felt then that the Congress

Seven persons have died and nearly 65,000 people, spread over five districts, were affected in the current spell of floods in Bihar where some major rivers are in spate.
State disaster management department officials said seven people died due in Muzaffarpur district, while around 65,000 people of 140 villages in Muzaffarpur, Supaul, Patna, Nalanda and Saharsa districts were affected by the deluge. Floods so far destroyed nearly 600 houses, the value of which was estimated to be Rs 39.5 lakh, besides public property worth over Rs 41 lakh, sources said.

NH-57 land acquisition Six government officials arrested, four absconding The state Vigilance Department has unearthed a Rs one crore scam in the land acquisition process for the East-West Corridor along the National Highway-57 in Madhubani. Illegal payments have been made allegedly in at least 30 cases. The department has booked 10 government officials, including Madhubani Land Acquisition officer Shyam Kishore Prasad in this connection.

M.J. PRABU Shortage of fertilizers, absence of proper marketing facilities, difficulty in getting electricity connection for irrigation and the lackadaisical attitude of policy makers in some States in addressing the farmers' problems have been identified as causes for an increased agrarian frustration. Basic infrastructure Especially in Bihar, where basic infrastructure such as good roads and continuous electricity supply are lacking even in some parts of the major towns, and the situation is even worse in rural areas, where life comes to a virtual stand still after 6 pm.