See through our eyes, not your ears.

IRC chief applauds Bihar for development

PATNA — As the 70th Indian Roads Congress (IRC) came to an end here on Tuesday, IRC outgoing president D B Deshpande, in his speech, praised Bihar for its visible development and said the day is not far when this once backward state will be among the developed states.

Referring to his home state Maharashtra, he said there only eight per cent is spent on roads whereas Bihar is spending 30 per cent on the road sector. He said that the standard of rural roads had already been set and if needed more modifications could be effected.

Before the conclusion of the meet, the 190th Council meeting of the IRC was also held which elected new president, other office-bearers and council members.

Lian Sanga, engineer in-chief of Mizoram, was elected president replacing D B Deshpande while M V Balala (Gujarat), Anand Salow (MP), R D Ram Dhyan (chief engineer, RCD, Bihar) and Sanjay Dabniya from the private sector were elected vice-presidents.

Secretary general R P Indoria has been retained.

As many as 80 council members were also elected at the session. For the first time in the IRC, two women members — Shobha Khanna and Purnima Parida — have also been elected.

In the four-day long IRC session, cultural programme for 2,111 delegates, and their spouses were also held. After the conclusion of the meet, several delegates went on excursion of Buddhists spots for which Volvo buses had been arranged. Each delegate was given a memento.

The next IRC will be held at Bhopal next year.