PATNA, March 15 -- The Bihar government has set a 60-day deadline for the elected representatives of Panchayati Raj Institutions and Gram Kachahari, including mukhiya and sarpanch, to get their arms license applications processed. The move is a big relief for public representatives worried about their safety and is likely to clear the backlog and resulting delay in arms licence distribution. The state home department has directed the DMs, SSPs and SPs to decide on the applications within 60 days. The police have been asked to submit a detailed report on applicants, including character and criminal antecedents, within 30 working days. In the letter, issued by Additional Chief Secretary (Home) Arvind Kumar Chaudhary, he stated that on the chief minister's instruction, applications for arms licences from elected representatives of Panchayati Raj and Gram Kachahari must be disposed of in a time-bound manner. The letter mentions that the licensing authority will seek a police verification report from the nearest police station to issue the arms licence. "The police will submit the report within 30 days," the letter said. The home department will conduct a monthly review of arms licence applications and their execution. In his order, the ACS (Home) directed all the DMs, SSPs and SPs to provide the action taken report related to the arms licence to the home department on the 7th of every month. In the monthly review report at the headquarters level, as per instructions, it must mention how many public representatives applied in the district, how many applications are pending and how many cases were settled within the stipulated time limit. "This will ensure transparency and accountability throughout the system. For this, a form has also been issued, in which the detailed number of arms licence applications, police reports, pending and executed cases will be filled-up properly. All Divisional Commissioners have been requested to monitor the compliance of these instructions at their level," the letter said. Incidents of killing and murderous attacks on panchayat representatives in Bihar in past years forced the government to issue the order, as many representatives have regularly met government officials with concerns about their safety. Later a proposal, initiated by the Panchayati Raj Department, was approved by the cabinet....