Bihar govt grants 'minister of state' status to whips of parties

Patna: The Bihar government on Wednesday officially granted the status of 'Minister of State' to the whips of both Houses of the state legislature — the Assembly and the Council.

Rural development minister Sharwan Kumar tabled a copy of the gazette in the Assembly, which pertains to the amendment of rules made after receiving consent from the Governor.

"Whips of both Houses of the legislature will be entitled to pay, allowances and other facilities at par with the state minister of the government", said the gazette notification. Chief whips of the parties are already entitled to cabinet-level facilities in the state.

During the day, two key Bills were passed—the Bihar Government Premises (Allotment, Rent, Recovery, and Eviction) (Amendment) Bill-2024 and the Bihar Sports University (Amendment) Bill-2024 — despite opposition uproar.

The opposition members demanded the withdrawal of the Waqf Amendment Bill by the Centre and staged a walkout after Chief Minister Nitish Kumar did not clarify his stance on the issue.

This led to disruption in the post-lunch session, with opposition members storming into the well of the House.

Speaker Nand Kishor Yadav addressed the protests, emphasising that the matter could not be decided at the state level.

Earlier in the session, the House had to be adjourned due to the uproar.

Minister Jayant Raj, while presenting the Bihar Government Premises (Allotment, Rent, Recovery, and Eviction) (Amendment) Bill-2024, explained that the Bill aims to set provisions for fixing and revising rents for government premises over time and clearly defines the eviction process, which was unclear in previous legislation.

He assured that the new provisions would soon be notified for public clarity.