Bihar: Once corrupt babu's bungalow, now a school

History was made on Thursday in Bihar when a school began functioning in the confiscated palatial building of tainted Indian Administrative Services officer Shiv Shankar Verma.

It is a first not only in Bihar but across India that a school has been opened in the house of a corrupt government babu after it was confiscated.

Bihar Human Resources and Development minister P K Shahi told rediff.com in Patna on Thursday that the school has started functioning in the confiscated house of Verma.

"Finally, the government has turned the confiscated house into a school. The school has opened now," Shahi said.

He said that it was Chief Minister Nitish Kumar's dream to first confiscate the house or property of corrupt officials and turn them into schools for poor children.

"This is a new beginning in Bihar and would be followed by other states and Central government in coming times," Shahi added.

According to HRD officials, the school was declared open by the head of the organising panel of Scheduled Caste committee after a small function .The school mainly caters to Mahadalits.

"The school will benefit children of Musahar, a rat eating Mahadalit community," an official said.

Four days after the Bihar government confiscated a three storeyed building of Verma, a 1981 batch IAS officer accused of corruption, it has been officially turned into a school with name on board.

"Now the chief minister's fight against corruption is showing  result. Nitish Kumar's wishes have been fulfilled with opening of  a school in Verma's confiscated house," Janata Dal-United president Vashisht Narain Singh said.

Nitish Kumar repeatedly promised during his election campaign last year that his government would take over  the houses of corrupt public servants and convert them into schools.

After Verma's house was confiscated, he said it will send a loud and clear message to public servants that buildings and assets purchased using ill-gotten money will not remain with them.

The HRD department has shifted a primary school at Rukunpura in Patna to the confiscated house of Verma.

Ravikant, principal secretary, cabinet coordination department, said the state cabinet Tuesday gave its consent for free of cost transfer of the house of Verma to HRD to relocate any nearby school that has no building of its own.

The state government on Sunday confiscated a house of the suspended IAS officer, making him the first officer to face such an action under the Bihar Special Courts Act, 2010.

Verma, a former minor irrigation secretary, now faces a case of disproportionate assets amounting to Rs.1.44 crore, along with eight other relatives.

He is the first officer to face such an action under the Bihar Special Courts Act, 2010.The act has given power to the state
government which has specific laws about confiscating property made by public servants though ill-gotten money.

Last month, the Patna high court rejected Verma's petition challenging the vigilance court's order to confiscate his house. The high court upheld the special vigilance court's order to confiscate the 'disproportionate assets' of Verma.

Verma was suspended after vigilance sleuths raided his residence and  unearthed huge unaccounted assets in 2007.