Title - Shinde lays foundation of 552km border road

SARAIGARH-BHAPTIYAHI (Supaul): Union home minister SushilkumarShinde on Tuesday laid the foundation stones of two projects - a 552-km-long border road along the Indo-Nepal border and an SSB recruitment and training centre - through remote control from the campus of the BiharGurmaita High School at Bhaptiyahi.Lauding the development projects in Bihar, Shinde said that the road along the Indo-Nepal border would not only help in ensuring security in the region, but also give fillip to the economic development of border areas. The SSB recruitment and training centre is estimated to cost Rs 117 crore.The minister said that the border road project would be completed by 2016. He also asked the SSB (Sashastra Seema Bal) director general Arun Choudhary to ensure that the centre is completed before he completes his term in 2014. He also urged the SSB DG to give preference to local youths in recruitment.

The heavy downpour played a spoilsport as Shinde rose to address a huge crowd on the school campus. He wound up his five-minute speech with the remark, "rains do augur well". He also promised to address the concerns raised by CM Nitish Kumar and state power minister Bijendra Prasad Yadav in terms of development of the state.

Speaking as the chief guest, Nitish said Bihar spearheaded the move for border road by taking it up with the Centre and was the first among the states where the border road project has been taken up.

The CM said the 552-km-long border road, running from Madanpur-Gobarhiya in West Champaran to Galgalia in Kishanganj, would pass through seven districts - West Champaran, East Champaran, Sitamarhi, Madhubani, Supaul , Araria and Kishanganj. He said the road will give a boost to the economy of the border districts and pave way for realignment of roads and construction of a huge network of bridges in the seven districts.

The state has allocated 110 acres of land for the establishment of the SSB recruitment and training centre at Asanpur-Kupaha, west of Kosi Mega bridge in the district, the CM said.

Nitish also raised the issue of special category status to Bihar and sought the support of home minister, who, he said, was always soft towards Bihar. In his 15-minute speech, he also called upon the railway ministry to expedite the rail route construction in light of the fact that the rail bridge over Kosi, which runs parallel to the road mega bridge near Saraigarh, was complete. He said these highly ambitious projects were taken up when Atal Bihari Vajpayee was at the helms at the Centre.

The CM also strongly advocated for the allocation of Rs 2000 crore pension money from the central pool as specifically mentioned in the Bihar Reorganisation Act, when the state was bifurcated.

Earlier, speaking on the occasion, SSB director general Arun Choudhary said the SSB recruitment and training centre in Supaul district was the fourth such centre across the country. It will impart training to 1500 recruits at a time, he added.

The SSB director general honoured Shinde, Nitish, Bijendra Prasad Yadav and other dignitaries with 'paag' (Mithila cap) and 'chadar'. Power minister Yadav chaired the meeting.

Those present on the occasion included Union home secretary R K Singh, SSB IG Aditya Kumar, MP Vishwa Mohan Kumar, MLAs Anirudha Yadav, Amla Devi and Arun Kumar and MLC Haroon Rasheed.

Speaking more as a native of the district than as a high-ranking officer, Singh said Bihar had notched up significant marks on the development parameters in the country.