Ahmedabad: The ministers of Jharkhand, who are attending a leadership and management programme at IIM-A here today shared their experience terming it ‘beneficial’ and ‘useful’.

Addressing a joint press conference in the institute premises here along with his other 8 ministerial colleagues, former speaker of Jharkhand assembly and incumbent Urban Development minister C P Singh said that nine of the total 11 ministers were participating in the training programme.

‘One may ask why the ministers are undergoing training. But it should be kept in mind that there can’t be any age limit for learning and increasing one’s intellectual capabilities. We are learning many things which when combined with our practical experience would be very beneficial. For example we are also learning things about delivering the poll promises and PPP mode.’

To a query regarding the performance of the Raghubar Das government, Singh said that it has performed well but the people want even better result for the fact that currently BJP was in power both in the state and at center and people have very high expectations from us. They want miracle of sorts from us.

He also said that despite having a share of around 40% of the total mineral resources including iron ore and coal the state was yet to become a fully developed state. Singh expressed hope that what he was learning at IIM-A, the leading management institute in Asia and the world, would be beneficial for the state.

Minister of Health and Medical Education Ramchandra Chandravashi also termed the learning experience at IIM-A highly beneficial. To a query he said that he had opposed the introduction of NEET test for medical and dental colleges and still believed that there should be some relaxation in it. ‘The students of Jharkhand where a large chunk of ST and SC communities reside, NEET was having adverse effect,’ he said. He also elaborated on various steps taken by the state government to improve health services and said that around 80% of the population in the state have been brought under cover of schemes of free treatment for serious ailments.

Minister of Food, Public Distribution and Consumer Affairs Saryu Rai also praised the training saying it was very beneficial to apprise them about new-age things. He said that the Jharkhand government would take help from the institute in its various development endeavors.

To a query he said that the naxalites in Jharkhand have become very weak and were attempting to recruit school children by force and kidnapping. ‘The new generation was not at all interested in the naxal philosophy. Many of the kidnapped and forcefully recruited boys are returning back. Now only sporadic incidents of naxal violence happens in the state. The menace has been controlled to a great extent and was likely to end in the coming time,’ he said.

He also said that the problem of illegal mining in the state has also been controlled a good deal. Rai also said that rather than emulating Gujarat Model it was better for Jharkhand to follow its own development plan according to local conditions. He said that institutions like IIM-A could help us find why despite being rich in natural resources and good growth rate, the poverty elimination was not up to mark.

Co-coordinator of the 3 day Management and Leadership Program for Good Governance programme to be concluded tomorrow, and IIM-A faculty Arvind Sahay said that the topics covered under it included leadership and ethics, PPP, behaviour change management, healthcare and education.

DeshGujarat