Global
Bihar meet draws , Kalam, Doc interest
Ashok
K Mishra
PATNA
WHEN
president APJ Abdul Kalam arrives here on January 19
for the three-day global meet on resurgent Bihar, it
will be his fourth visit to the state in less than 14
months. His repeated trips to Bihar underlines his growing
interest in the state, perhaps a vindication of his
believe that it can retrieve past glory.
If
the president is optimistic on Bihar, prime minister
Manmahan Singh, too, is willing to take a positive call
on the state.
Only a few days back, Dr Singh exhorted Bihari NRIs,
particulady from Mauritius, to invest in the state.
In his address to the Pravasi Bhartiya Sammelan, Dr
Singh urged the NRIs to make a "Mauritius out of
Bihar".
"We
are delighted that the president will inaugurate the
global meet. It will really be a big boost for the event.
The prime minister's positive vibes coming just ahead
of the meet will also mean a lot for the event,"
said Ajay Kumar, editor, bihartimes.com - a news portal
and among the meet's organisers.
The
global meet is being seen as an attempt to repackage
Bihar as an investment destination. Apart from the Bihari
NRls, some of the prominent names of industry and other
fields, including Dr Meghnad Desai, ITC Chairman Y Deveshwar,
YK AIagh and C Rangarajan, are scheduled to attend the
meet. For the state government, it will be an opportunity
to showcase Bihar as a place which is now condudve for
development.
"Yes,
we will use the forum for presenting our growth story
plans and the steps we have already initiated to help
create an investor-friendly climate," said deputy
chief minister Sushil Kumar Modi, who is also the chairman
of the steering committee of the meet.
Mr
Modi, who has been regulady holding meetings for ensuring
the success of the event, maintained Bihari NRIs were
now evincing interest in investing in the state.
