Patna, Oct 22: Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Wednesday launched a sharp attack on former Union minister and ex-CM Lalu Prasad Yadav and his family while showcasing his government’s two-decade-long record of development during an election rally in Gopalganj — the home district of the RJD supremo.

Addressing a large gathering, Nitish Kumar said that before 2005, Bihar was gripped by fear and lawlessness, but over the last 20 years, the state has witnessed unprecedented progress under his leadership.

“Before 2005, people were afraid to step out of their homes after sunset. But today, Bihar is safe, developed, and moving forward. The state has changed completely,” the Chief Minister said.

Listing the key achievements of his government, Nitish Kumar highlighted that over five lakh teachers have been appointed to strengthen the education sector.

He said that in the health sector, several new medical colleges have been established to improve access to healthcare across the state.

The Chief Minister also mentioned major welfare initiatives, including free electricity up to 125 units for households, increased old-age pensions, and various schemes to empower women through employment.

“Bihar today has the highest number of women in the police force compared to any other state in the country. We have ensured women’s participation in every field,” he added.

Nitish Kumar emphasised that his government works for all communities without discrimination, citing efforts to build boundary walls for temples as well as fencing for Muslim cemeteries.

“Earlier, politics was based on the Hindu-Muslim division. We have ended that. Our work is for everyone — irrespective of caste or religion,” he said.

During his speech, Nitish also praised Prime Minister Narendra Modi, acknowledging his support for Bihar’s ongoing development projects.

“Prime Minister Modi has done significant work for Bihar’s development. Together, we are ensuring the state’s growth continues,” the Chief Minister remarked.

Earlier on Tuesday, Nitish Kumar addressed rallies in Muzaffarpur, where he also detailed the NDA government’s achievements in education, infrastructure, and welfare ahead of the upcoming Bihar Assembly elections.

Mumbai: Maharashtra’s school system is facing a major crisis as over 10 lakh students risk being marked “out of school” due to Aadhaar validation errors on the national UDISE Plus portal. According to official data, out of 2,14,68,288 registered students, only 2,09,69,529 have submitted their Aadhaar details.

Among these, 2,03,21,408 students’ Aadhaar numbers have been verified, while 5,78,433 have been found invalid. In addition, 4,98,759 students have not submitted Aadhaar numbers at all, placing their enrolment in jeopardy. Another 69,688 records are still under verification.

Altogether, around 10,77,000 students could be classified as “out of school” in government records, even though they continue to attend classes regularly. The School Education Department has mandated that every student’s details must be linked with Aadhaar on the UDISE Plus database, which also affects staffing decisions and resource allocation for schools.

Teachers’ associations and education experts have raised alarm over this issue, warning that the classification contradicts the Right to Education (RTE) Act. They argue that technical data errors should not determine whether a child is considered enrolled or not. Many fear that such discrepancies could lead to reduced staff, loss of grants, and even closure of schools in some regions, particularly in rural and semi-urban areas.

Education officials have acknowledged the problem and are working to resolve data mismatches. They have urged schools to revalidate and update student details at the earliest to prevent disruptions in records.

The situation highlights the growing dependence on digital databases like UDISE Plus and Aadhaar for education administration, and the serious real-world consequences when these systems fail to align.

New Delhi, Oct 22: The Election Commission of India (ECI) on Wednesday began its two-day Conference of Chief Electoral Officers (CEOs) at the India International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Management (IIIDEM), New Delhi, to review nationwide preparedness for the upcoming Special Intensive Revision(SIR) of electoral rolls.

The conference, presided over by Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, was attended by Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi.

The primary focus of the session was to assess the readiness of all State and Union Territory CEO offices for the crucial SIR exercise that ensures accuracy and inclusiveness in India’s voter lists.

This conference follows up on a similar preparedness review held on September 10, 2025, where all States and UTs presented detailed data on electors, qualifying dates, and the current status of electoral rolls as per the last completed revision.

“The Conference is being held as a follow-up on the SIR preparedness conference held on September 10, 2025, during which all the States/UTs gave detailed presentations on the number of Electors, qualifying date of last SIR and Electoral Roll in their respective State/UT as per the last completed SIR,” the ECI said in its press note.

The Commission took note of the progress made since then and sought updates on the implementation of its earlier directions.

A key agenda of the meeting was to evaluate the progress in mapping current electors with those recorded during the last SIR, helping identify new voters, deletions, and corrections.

“The Commission assessed the progress made on the directions previously issued to the CEOs to map the current electors with the electors as per the last SIR in the State/UT,” it said.

The ECI also reviewed the status of appointment and training of field-level officials, including District Election Officers (DEOs), Electoral Registration Officers (EROs), Assistant EROs (AEROs), Booth Level Officers (BLOs), and Booth Level Agents (BLAs).

The conference aims to standardise processes, strengthen coordination across states, and ensure that every eligible citizen is duly enrolled ahead of the next election cycle.