The success story of bihar

Tuesday, January 12, 2010

Cabinet meet on floating restaurant, now

PATNA: Now floating restaurant on the Ganga would be the venue of cabinet meeting on Makar Sankranti day. Special Bihari delicacies would be served to nearly 200 guests, including ministers, bureaucrats and mediapersons, on Thursday noon.

It would be held on the Bihar State Tourism Development Corporation’s (BSTDC) 48-seater AC floating restaurant — MV Ganga Vihar. CM Nitish had launched city’s lone floating restaurant on the Ganga on July 20 last year. It has now become a major tourist attraction in the city.

The BSTDC has been entrusted with the task of serving delicacies like Gaya’s famous `tilkut’, `lai’, yoghurt and fried green `chana’ and `chura’ to the VVIPs attending the cabinet meet on the day.

“Besides, we have also made arrangements for light snacks, `bhoonja’, sweet (dry), juice, tea and coffee on the vessel for the VVIPs during the two-hour meeting,” said an official.

The government has already booked it for the cabinet meeting mainly to boost tourism in the state. The entire cabinet, including the CM, and around 200 VVIPs, including senior bureaucrats, would spend nearly two hours on the vessel.

“The vessel carrying VVIPs would sail up to the Collectorate Ghat and then take turn for downstream journey to Gandhi Setu from where it will return back and be anchored at Bankipore Club Ghat,” said BSTDC deputy GM Navin Kumar.

Tourist department officials are making final arrangements, including cordless mikes, proper lighting arrangements and genset. The Patna district administration has made adequate security arrangements for the VVIPs.

All the VVIP dignitaries would park their vehicles at the Bankipore Club parking slot. They will board the vessel from the ghat itself on Thursday at around 1.30 pm.

Earlier, two cabinet meetings were held outside the state capital. The last was held at Ratnagiri hill at Rajgir in Nalanda district on December 29 last. Nitish had chosen Rajgir’s famous world peace pagoda as the destination for his cabinet meeting for decade’s last cabinet meet.

On February 10 last year, two-hour long cabinet meeting was held at a huge `pandal’ at the remote Barbighi village, 18 km from Begusarai and 140 km from Patna.

The meeting, which was chaired by Nitish, assumed significance as it was perhaps the first of its kind in the hinterland. Almost all ministers and top `babus’ along with an army of secretariat staff were present at the meeting. They were ferried from Patna in the morning in luxury buses of the BSTDC.


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