A WINNING ENDEAVOUR

The India Today State of the State (SOTS) Conclave, Bihar, was held in Patna on November 3. Bihar Governor Lalji Tandon inaugurated the event. Chief Minister Nitish Kumar released the SOTS report, an indepth study measuring the progress of 20 out of Bihar’s 38 districts over the past decade based on key indicators such as education, health, water & sanitation, infrastructure, law & order, agriculture, industry, services and prosperity. The conclave is a signature india today event where winning districts are awarded. The chief minister gave away the awards to the best performing and most improved districts. During the day-long event, spread over eight riveting sessions, 20 eminent speakers, including Bihar deputy chief minister Sushil Kumar Modi, author-diplomat and Janata Dal (United) national general secretary Pavan Varma, MLC and special advisor to the chief minister Sanjay Jha, advisor to the chief minister and former chief secretary Anjani Kumar Singh, chief secretary Deepak Kumar, principal secretary Vivek Kumar Singh, Bihar additional chief secretary Tripurari Sharan, principal secretary of health Sanjay Kumar, principal secretary of energy Pratyaya Amrit, Kathak maestro and author Shovana Narayan, designer Samant Chauhan, writer and director Amitabh Varma, JD(U) leader Professor Ratneshwar Mishra, author and journalist Arun Sinha and culturist Dr Ajit Pradhan discussed and debated roadmaps for multiple growth areas of the state. The first SOTS study was conducted in July 2016 in Jharkhand. Since then, SOTS reports have been published for Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat, Rajasthan, Karnataka, Odisha, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh.