BETTIAH, Sept. 2 -- Laying the foundation stones and inauguration of projects worth Rs.285 crore in East Champaran, chief minister Samrat Choudhary on Tuesday said Bihar was entering a new phase of transformation, promising 700 model schools, a National School of Drama, reopening of sugar mills and new airports among a slew of other initiatives as part of a state's future scheme of things aimed at bringing about social justice and development hand in hand. Addressing a gathering at the sprawling Gandhi Maidan in Motihari, the headquarters of East Champaran district, after inauguration of the Bapudham Mahotsav, Choudhary said development of a state could not be envisaged without ensuring justice for the poor and underprivileged. "Our Sahyog Shivir is aimed at rendering justice to people without bothering them to make rounds of government offices. It is a platform where the government reaches out to people and resolves their problems directly," Choudhary said. He said the initiative has improved work culture and ensured speedy disposal of public grievances, which has a provision for suspension of government employees for failure to address complaints within the stipulated timeline. "About 9,500 notices had to be issued initially, which came down to around 600 after 20 days of the grievance period. No official or government staff member has allowed a case to cross the 30-day timeline which means automatic suspension," he said, highlighting a shift in the state's administrative culture. He expressed his satisfaction over the initiative, saying of the seven lakh applications received at Sahyog Sivir, 96 per cent grievances has been addressed so far. Choudhary also underlined the NDA government's focus on social empowerment and improving access to education and opportunities for the weaker sections. He laid the foundation stone as well as unveiled as many as 145 different development schemes worth Rs.285 crore during his visit. He also announced plans for setting up a National School of Drama (NSD) in Bihar and expressed gratitude to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Culture Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat for their support. "The NSD campus would provide students with opportunities for quality theatre education for which one needed to move to Pune, Delhi and Kolkata," he said. He also spoke about setting up of sugarmills in Motihari, the coverage of irrigation facilities in agriculture land from 21 lakh hectares in 2005, to nearly 44 lakh hectares this year, creation of one crore jobs and government employment opportunities, with fish production being promoted widely in north Bihar. The chief minister also said financial assistance of up to Rs.2 lakh to women entrepreneurs will be given and coming up of two airports at Valmikinagar, Muzaffarpur and Raxaul, besides helicopter service planned for Motihari and new medical college in East Champaran and planetarium construction to start in Motihari....