Tuesday, June 17, 2008

Bihar on song - Development marching ahead

As the name of an eastern state Bihar comes to any Indian's mind, the general notion and assumptions force him/her to think, oh poor Bihar, lagging Bihar, corrupt Bihar, flooded Bihar and so on...

These lines are not something which is very new to all of us, but yes about the wave change which has gathered momentum in Bihar will be very refreshing and new to us. For long years, rather decades Bihar was dumped into the lurches of destiny by some mean politicians who were least bothered for the inclusive and overall growth of Bihar and their only aim was to fill up their coffers.

Those politicians who ruled over Bihar were very well, aware that the Bihari's were a force to reckon with and hence if they (Bihari's) went ahead to the world of glory and success, it will spell disaster for the shameless politicians. So, in order to stem the growth of bihari people the mean politicians blocked the very supply of development funds meant for school education and other projects. Simple reason, to fool them and they doesn't wanted them to know about their rights.
The outcome was obvious, large number of Bihari's started migrating to other states in India to earn their livelihood and don't forget about the students too. (Even I've migrated to Chennai in the year 2004 to pursue my higher education).

In economics or rather in management we use one term which is known as year over year or year on year (YOY), to represent the growth of the companies or say economies. As bihari's kept on migrating from Bihar, the rulers were having free hand to exploit the economy and they ruined it. The YoY of Bihar was dismal. In the sowing season poor peasants were moving to the developed belt of Punjab to work as labors. Anyhow, the conditions which they faced there were not congenial, but nevertheless it was better off than bihar.
Due to the huge influx of labors from Bihar, Punjab and other state's economies were booming (Bihari's are proven and known hard workers) and at the same time Bihar was in troubled waters.
Slowly people realized that the government which was ruling over them doesn't deserved their support, so in the 2005 assembly elections a new government headed by an extremely talented chief minister, Mr. Nitish Kumar came to the helm. People wanted change and thats what Nitish Kumar promised in his election manifesto. Development works started gathering the momentum. Bihar was the first state to simplify the Right to Information Act, 2005 (RTI Act) by providing the information through phones. Highways, roadways, water connections everything started falling in line and slowly Bihar is on to a development song.

Now, farmers in Punjab who utilized the services of Bihari labor are facing the heat. The regular supply of cheap labor from Bihar has dried up, as the bihari workers are finding employment back home itself. And this has happened due to the initiatives taken by the Nitish Kumar government.
Why Bihar is surging ahead? Some bullet points:

1.) Increased economic activity:
The increased economic activity in the state is a story that is beginning to attract attention as the first real evidence becomes visible. Bihar's economic growth has become a moment of crisis for other states, who have for long fueled their growth on the backs of low-paid Bihari workers.
The construction companies in Nashik are already facing the huge shortage of manpower, as Maharashtra Navnirmaan Sena wanted that migrants, especially Biharis should leave the state with immediate effect. They drove them away from Maharashtra, little they know that these workers, many with the construction company are not going to return back. Simple reason, conditions back home in Bihar has improved and they need not to come back to Nashik.

2.) Increased connectivity:
Road works in the state will tell the story. In the first two years after the NDA govt. assumed office they have spent Rs 4722 crores on the improvement of road. As compared to the previous government the NDA government has spent considerable amount of sums towards the overall development of bihar. In this year alone the Bihar govt. will be spending Rs 300 crores on roads. Lot of construction work has begun in Bihar itself, so where is the need for the people to move out of the state in search of jobs.

3.) Increased expenditure on education & health:
There has been remarkable improvement in the expenditure on education and health. Earlier where only 39 patients were being checked at the Primary Health Centers (PHC), now 150 patients are being attended. The state's ability to utilize funds has grown by leaps and bounds.

The Bihari labor is no longer treated with disdain, he is a valued and most sought after worker and now no longer a trip back home during chhath means loss of job.
And very recently Surat mill owners association requested the Deputy Chief Minister of Bihar, Mr. Sushil Kumar Modi to appeal to the Bihari workers so that the workers return to surat after Chhath and Durga Puja...

Friends, Bihar has a lot to offer and a lot to cheer.. The fertile grounds, unlimited resources, amazing hard working peoples and together we can...

9 comments:

Kunal Deo said...

Probably. Key to this kind of problem is that Bihari's are everywhere but not in Bihar . All the coming generation guys just jump off the state. Nobody is really there. and Why shouldn't they. Means if you are a BCA student you dont have electricity how will you study. I really dont know the solution, but like other people I know the problems (Yes I know I'm whinning). No-Roads,No-Electricity. In my hometown its even worse. Looks like my home town is running 20 years behind rest of the India.

May be youth's can do something about it, It will be hard I know that but that is what needed. Biharis needs to stay in Bihar make it a better place to live. Its not just about labors its also about the middle class population.

Shubhro said...

Never the less every year most of IAS and IIT's are from Bihar..that is a truth and no one can disagree......thus if there is proper growth and opputunities in bihar all can stay and grow in bihar....which will in turn help bihar grow.

But i am still afraid of the "gunda raaj" that is still prevailing in certain places in bihar...that is a real concern...and need to be looked after on priority..

Mrinal Deo said...

Dear Shubhro
Thanks for taking pains to read my blog.. As i have mentioned in my blog that, once the old government was ousted in Bihar in the year 2005, lot of changes has taken place. And, as far as so called "Gundraj" is concerned it'll ween away as time goes on and everybody gets their due chance to work and earn earnestly. Why "Gundaraj" cropped up, due to no work, no employment. As the economy will grow up, this problem will be only in the history books of bihar.

Abhijeet Sinha said...

it's really a feel good blog. really,the conditions of Bihari are getting much better.actually, the reasons behind this is same which u have mentioned above.actually bihar is my birth place and i was brought up and grown in place which was formally known as bihar now it's jharkhand. so i know the earlier condition and also the impoving condition.but govt should still put more stress on the educational areas. see the places like karnataka, tamil nadu,andhra,orissa and other places where govt is providing subsidies and facilities to make it a educational hub.not only education but health dept should also be put on more stress.

Unknown said...

First of all i would like to thank Mrinal for providing some of the most valuable statistics in the blog.
At present i am not so aware of the present conditions prevailing in Bihar.Thus i am not in a position to post any informative comment.But one thing i am quite sure of is that the conditions have changed very much with the change of government.Several announcements were made at the time of formation of the new government and hopefully actions must have been taken.As far as my information says several projects were started.
But the problem is that many major projects are not completed due to various reasons.This is not a very good condition.For example construction of three overbridges started in my hometown (Muzaffarpur) wayback in the year 2005.But they are still in the initial stages of their construction.What are the reasons i don't know.There might be money problem or any other problem.But whatever the problem may be public is suffering a lot due to the delay in the completion of these projects.
This was one example of the delays.There are several others.
Finally i would like to say that commencing various projects is not the solution to the many problems that Bihar is facing.Completing these projects on time is the major issue
Thanks

Mrinal Deo said...

Well, very valid point made by Sumit. T totally agree with him, but even he accepts that change is in the air and one day we can proudly say that, yes something concrete has materialized...

rajshekhar0126 said...

yeah! dude Really u did spendid job as u wrote one of the heart touching blog as iproud 2 be a Bihari.I appreciate ur feelings n dedication towards PATLIPUTRA.
Yes its a fact that just coz of newly govt. n Bihari's too. the mentality of people towards Bihari's r changed nudge-nudge wink-wink.
See recently, one businessman came 2 bihar and inagurated the sugar mills as we know that in past Bihar was the largest producer of SUGARCANE.
Can u Guess What's the reason ....?
Yes, NITISH Kumar'S Govt. is Paying more attention to chane the poor status of Bihar.He's giving his best 4 the development.

In comparison 2 earliar givt.he's really doing CHIVALROUS job.and it's our duty to help the govt. to sort out the problems then only we'll b on the TOP list ......

Dear i 2 SALUTE u DILse.......Keep it up.....!

Anonymous said...

Well, mrinal nice blog. You have collected good data. These words are very hard to read by any Bihari ….
But bro ,When anybody in my college comment on bihar then I tell them every year most of IAS and IIT's are from Bihar. But my heart tells these lines are meaningless. what they have done for Bihar? You are a management student , “will you go back to Bihar to serve your people?”. You said that politicians are responsible for this condition of Bihar according to me every educated person is responsible for that. I know friend government is key thing for development of any state . But the government have been chosen by us. You know that duration of any government is only 5 years and 5 year is not enough for development. What will happen when the government will change?
So friend if we want to do something then we have to go back to bihar.

Sanjay Pandit said...

Hi Mrinal, Nice blog, must say. I would also like to add that I have been outside Bihar/Jharkhand for close to 2 decades now and have come to a conclusion that the biggest hinderance to developement in these states is the importance attached to caste system. This even manifests itself in any Bihari association in other states/cities. Must admit that even our generation guys are more gravitated towards people of their own castes and not surprisingly you'd find various groups/subgroups within the association itself....eg..kayastha group, Rajput group...etc.etc. What is foresaken is the common benefit of all. Time to change our own mindesets buddy.