Bihar CM Pledges Mati Kala Board for Potters as Student Protests Grip Patna Streets

Bihar Chief Minister Samrat Choudhary promised to establish a Mati Kala Board within three months to safeguard the traditional pottery craft of the Kumhar community, even as Patna remained tense with a mounting student agitation over the stalled teacher recruitment process. The Department of Posts also issued a commemorative stamp in Patna honouring Ramphal Mandal, a Quit India Movement martyr hanged by the British at nineteen.

CM Choudhary Promises Pottery Arts Board Within Three Months

Chief Minister Samrat Choudhary made the announcement at a programme organised by the Bihar Kumhar Prajapati Samanvay Samiti at Shri Krishna Memorial Hall in Patna, held to mark the death anniversary of freedom fighter Ramchandra Vidyarthi, who gave his life for the nation at age thirteen. The proposed Maati Kala Board, or Terracotta Art Board, would be constituted within three months with the mandate of preserving and promoting traditional pottery art, supporting potters with welfare schemes, and providing an institutional platform for the Prajapati community's ancient craft. The Chief Minister acknowledged that the Kumhar community has enriched Bihar's cultural identity for centuries, shaping ordinary clay into religious idols and everyday objects through generations of inherited skill. Two women from the Prajapati community, Sheila Pandit and Shivrani Prajapati, have been inducted as Members of the Bihar Legislative Council and were felicitated at the event. Choudhary urged both MLCs to remain accessible to community members and advocate for their welfare. The Board is expected to provide artisans with market linkages, training in contemporary design, and financial assistance for tools and raw materials, addressing chronic gaps that have kept Bihar's potters at the economic margins despite their cultural significance. The Chief Minister also paid tribute to Pandit Rajkumar Shukla and martyr Ramphal Mandal during the ceremony, framing the event as a day to honour three brave martyrs alongside the living legacy of the Prajapati craft tradition. [6]

🗳️ Tejashwi Backs Patna Students as Gardanibagh Becomes Protest Hub

Patna's Gardanibagh area has emerged as the focal point of a sustained student and youth agitation that shows no sign of abating despite the Bihar government issuing the TRE-4 notification, which activists say fails to address the core concerns of aspirants waiting for government teaching jobs. Opposition leader Tejashwi Yadav, who called the state's handling of student futures unacceptable, extended formal RJD support to the demonstrators. Earlier that week, Yadav had himself marched with thousands of supporters toward the Lok Bhavan in protest against police action targeting NEET paper leak protesters and was detained after security forces deployed water cannons on the marching crowd. The Federal reported that Gardanibagh has taken on a Jantar Mantar-like quality, becoming a permanent protest camp where aspirants from across Bihar's districts have gathered demanding transparent recruitment, cancellation of paper-leaked examinations, and accountability for officials allegedly complicit in exam irregularities. Demonstrators argue that years of preparation investment are being negated by systemic failures in examination integrity and they have vowed to remain until credible reforms are announced. Medical workers added further pressure on the government, with a doctors front issuing a three-day ultimatum demanding action on long-overdue salary arrears and inadequate security at government hospitals across the state. [7]

🤝 Patna Honours Quit India Martyr Ramphal Mandal With Postage Stamp

The Department of Posts issued a commemorative postage stamp in Patna on Sunday bearing the image of Ramphal Mandal, a young martyr of the Quit India Movement who was hanged by British colonial authorities at the age of nineteen. Mandal hailed from Madhurapur village in Sitamarhi district, and the stamps were issued in a denomination of five rupees to mark his martyrdom anniversary. Former Sikkim Governor Ganga Prasad presided over the release ceremony, which was attended by political leaders and community representatives who paid floral tributes to the martyr. Bihar CM Samrat Choudhary also paid respects to Mandal at a separate gathering earlier in the day. Ramphal Mandal's story is part of a generation of young Biharis who joined the mass civil disobedience movement launched by Mahatma Gandhi in August 1942 and faced severe British reprisals including imprisonment and execution. The issuance of a commemorative stamp is intended to restore the memory of such locally significant martyrs to a broader national audience. Bihar's freedom movement produced dozens of unsung heroes from rural backgrounds whose sacrifices are rarely reflected in mainstream textbooks, and this stamp release forms part of ongoing efforts to close that historical gap and inspire younger generations with homegrown stories of courage and resistance against colonial rule. [2]

Sources: [6] indiagazette.com · [7] The New Indian Express · [2] ETV Bharat