Private hostels on govt radar: Minister

PATNA: The Bihar urban development and housing department (UDHD) is working on modalities to register private

hostels

and lodges in the state to ensure better services for students.

State UDHD minister

Maheshwar Hazari

said this while answering a question of JD (U) legislator Ramchandra Bharti in the legislative council on Wednesday. The question related to unhygienic conditions in private accommodations for students in Patna.

Ramchandra said lodge owners were charging high rent from students, but were not providing electricity and safe drinking water to them.

Talking to newsmen outside the council later, Hazari said a the issue of private hostel would be discussed at a meeting within a week. He accepted that absence of regulations for such lodges was a serious issue.

Replying to a query of BJP MLC Mangal Pandey who alleged ten lakh bogus ration cards were issued and subsidy worth Rs 777 crore was misappropriated, state food and consumer minister Madan Sahni said the MLC’s data were not correct and that his department was seized with the issue.

Sahni said the DMs had been advised to act against such ration card holders. Already 3,000 such cases have been detected, he said.

Chief minister Nitish Kumar intervened to underline the import of linking the public distribution system with Aadhar card under the direct benefit transfer scheme. He urged all the legislators to promote Aadhar enrolment.

Sahni also told the council that electronic point of sale (ePoS) machine was being introduced on a pilot basis in 69 fair price shops in Noorsarai in Nalanda district.

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