February 16, 1998

Taking the cue from Rabri Devi, ministers and their minions turn entrepreneurs running thriving cottage industries from their sprawling government bungalows.

By Bharat Desai

Dennis may be an unlikely name for a cow but she has never had it so good, even back home in Denmark. For one, she is now one of the pride possessions in the dairy farm that Bihar Chief Minister Rabri Devi runs in her official residence at Patna's 1 Anne Marg. The plush cattle-shed she shares with others of the Jersey breed could be the envy of even the most prosperous of milkmen. It even has air-conditioners, presumably to remind the cows of the cooler climes of Scandinavia. What's more, there's an army of workers to dote on them. Not surprising then that the daily output of the 25 cows here is a staggering 250 litres of milk. Some of it goes to meeting the requirements of the state's first family, but the rest makes its way into the open market, easily fetching the chief minister an income of Rs 1.5 lakh a year.

Nothing wrong with that. Except that almost the entire expense of around Rs 16 lakh on Dennis' quarters is borne by the state Government while the earnings go to Rabri's pocket. Taking the cue from the enterprising chief minister, a number of her cabinet colleagues have also turned entrepreneurs, converting their sprawling government bungalows and vast acres of adjacent land into mini farms. There's a whole range of them -- dairies producing milk, farms that grow vegetables and a variety of other crops, even exotic fish and poultry farms.

Ask any foodie in Patna where he gets his quails and turkeys from and more often than not, the answer would be Raj Bhavan -- where Governor Akhlaq-ur-Rehman Kidwai resides -- or one of the numerous ministerial bungalows in the neighbouring enclave. Never mind that quails, like a host of other wild birds, are a protected species. it is possible to buy quails right on the premises of the Raj Bhavan at Rs 12 a piece. Everyday about 400 quails are picked up, a good number by other poultry farm owners who later sell them for a premium.

The Raj Bhavan tag does wonders and customers vouch for the quality of the birds here. Says building contractor Shailendra Singh, a regular buyer: "I buy from the Raj Bhavan because the birds are well-fed and are vaccinated against diseases." Indeed, with the Raj Bhavan reportedly spending several lakh of rupees a year on their upkeep, the birds couldn't but be well taken care of. That apart, the Governor personally takes interest in them. A morning walk on the farm to take stock of the birds is part of Kidwai's daily exercise. He is now said to have ordered for turkeys from Hissar in Haryana as supplies have run out.

Not that Kidwai has no competition. Water Resources and Tourism Minister Jagdanand Singh, for instance, also breeds quails, turkeys and chicken at his official residence. Singh's advantage over Kidwai is that unlike Raj Bhavan, where customers have to go through the tedious process of getting entry passes, his bungalow is more accessible. Singh, who believes he is one up on Kidwai, even charges his customers more: quails sold on his farm are priced at Rs 13 a piece. Any suggestion to either of them that quails are an endangered species is summarily dismissed. "Think of the employment we are providing to people," says Singh. But that argument is rubbished by his critics who say the staff engaged on these farms are those already on the Government's roll. They point to the sprawling bungalow of Road Construction Minister Ilyas Husain which teems with activity. Department workers and even securitymen tend cattle and the garden where almost every kind of vegetable is grown. A keen dairy enthusiast, the minister is sometimes described as being "more Yadav than the Yadavs", traditionally milkmen of Bihar.

But with competition in dairy and poultry farming being stiff, some ministers have turned to greener pastures. The latest fad seems to be fish farming which has promising returns, subject, of course, to the availability of water. But for Munshilal Rai, minister for public health engineering, water is no problem, entrusted as he has been with its supply in the state. There's plenty of water at his farm adjacent to his bungalow, even if it means parts of Bihar go without potable water for days. Rai breeds the Thai Mangur, a popular variety of fish which sells for Rs 80 a kg. Every three months, says Rai, he makes a profit of Rs 50,000 on a mere investment of Rs 20,000.

It's not as if only front-ranking ministers are running private businesses on public property. Bholaram Toofani, the former animal husbandry minister, who was in jail for four months in connection with the fodder scam, still occupies his ministerial bungalow, where he breeds fish. With almost two acres of land around him, he also produced 16 quintals of wheat last year. Now, he's turned to growing onions on his own farm. "I can't buy anything from the market, so I grow onions here," says Toofani, who claims he needs the money since the balance in his bank account which was frozen by the CBI following the scam was "just Rs 20,000". Worse still, he claims, he has only 50 fish left on his farm as many of them died while he was in jail. But as a man with "spartan habits", Toofani says he will transfer even these fish to mentor Laloo's pond soon, free of cost, of course. Toofani's loyalty to the Laloo family is unquestionable: some years ago, he had gifted a deer calf to Laloo's children. It remained a favourite pet in the chief minister's household until it came of age and its horns posed a risk for the children. Laloo's fish pond, in fact, sustains itself on supplies from die-hard loyalists like Toofani. But on December 12, when the former chief minister and his supporters wanted to celebrate his release from jail, stocks ran out. The ministers are said to have ordered mass fishing in the pond at the Sanjay Gandhi Botanical Park in Patna and eight quintals of fish were netted for the feast.

Rabri's ministers are not the only ones putting their government accommodation to good use. State Janata Dal President Ramai Ram, for instance, grows corn and runs dairy and poultry farms around his residence. Political one-upmanship in Bihar extends to even the quality of the milk that is sold from these government bungalows. Last year when an opponent accused Ram of selling milk adulterated with water, he shot back: "My milk is better than that sold by Laloo."

Business rivalry among the VIPs notwithstanding, even the common man has learnt to make the best of public property. By Rai's own admission, a number of people in his constituency have been inspired by him and have tried their hand at fish farming around the 500-odd tanks in the area. For that matter, even Rabri's brother, Sadhu Yadav, who has no official position, has a large government bungalow. Though he does not sell his produce, he grows vegetables and mustard crop apart from maintaining a dairy.

With the running of private businesses on government property becoming a norm, efforts of the state Estate Office in the Building Construction Department to check the misuse have been in vain. Admits Bihar Administrative Services Association General Secretary Shashi Bhushan Verma: "The rules prohibit use of government accommodation for commercial purposes but where do we begin enforcing the law?" Verma cites instances of officials delaying their transfers so as to harvest the crop. grown in their backyards. Little wonder then that there is a shortage of government accommodation and several officials are forced to stay in the circuit house or rest houses waiting endlessly for allotments. As one of them remarked, "We are even willing to stay in air-conditioned cattle-sheds if allotted to us." That perhaps is an indication of just how expectations have slumped in Laloo's Bihar.

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