In the NITI Aayog’s ‘SDG India Index 2019′, the state of Bihar has been ranked lowest, while Kerala topped the list. Bihar, Jharkhand and Arunachal Pradesh are among the worst-performing states, and these states have not shown any significant improvement when compared to last year. Yogi government-led Uttar Pradesh; Naveen Pattnaik led Odisha; and Sikkim were the states which registered maximum improvement compared to 2018 list.
Nitish Kumar, the Chief Minister of the state, who ruled the state for more than a decade, has come to be known as ‘Shushashan Babu’ in the state, and his development-oriented policies were well received in media. But, the result of these policies couldn’t bring any positive change in the state. Bihar was among the worst performers on socio-economic indicators almost one and a half-decade ago, when Nitish Kumar became chief minister and remains at the same place at the end of 2019.
Nitish Kumar, the ill-famed chief minister of Bihar who changes alliances at the drop of a hat without delivering into the nitty-gritty of ‘ethics and ideology’. For Nitish, any road that leads to the chief minister’s chair is acceptable to him.
He has ruled the state for 13 long years and Bihar continues to remain one of the poorest regions of the country. Good politicians and policymakers pine for continuity so that their state or region, Nitish got the same but avoided development in Bihar. Nitish Kumar learned the first lessons of politics under the tutelage of the socialist icon, Jayprakash Narayan and ‘socialism’ remains evident in his economic policies.
Over the reign of 13 years, he has tried to distribute wealth and deliver public services rather than ‘encouraging’ creation of wealth. He has used the money given by ‘central government’ and that sent by ‘migrant labourers’ to distribute freebies to poor people rather than spending in infrastructure, industrial development and attracting ‘services companies’.
Out of 1, 81,255 crore rupees received in FY 19 by the Bihar government, only 31,002 crore rupees or one-sixth is generated from its own tax. More than two-thirds of the money is the share from central taxes and grants from central government. On the other hand, richer states like Maharashtra generate almost half of it on their own. In fact, even UP generates more than 25 per cent of the total revenue on its own.
The GDP of Bihar was 5.15 lakh crore (73 billion dollars) in FY 19. The state is on 15th position in the list of Indian states by GDP and on third in the list of states by population. The state is on the bottom in the list of the states sorted by per capita annual income with a paltry 42,242 rupees in FY 18 compared to 1,12,835 rupees of Indian average and 3,75,554 rupees of Goa in the same FY. Therefore an average Indian earns 3 times more than a Bihari and an average Goan earns 9 times more.
Bihar is among the states with the highest percentage of population below the poverty line. In 2013, 33.74 per cent of the state population was living below the poverty line compared to 21.92 of all India average. This means that almost one-third of Biharis are still living below the poverty line compared to one-fifth of the Indian average. Majority of the population in the state are still employed in Agriculture. Industries and service companies don’t prefer the state due to ‘law and order’ problems and the lacklustre attitude of state government.
If we compare the performance of Nitish Kumar with former MP CM and BJP strongman Shivraj Singh Chouhan, we get to see the difference a good administrator brings to the table and how wealth-creating policies can change a state’s fortunes. Chouhan received an award from the then-president Pranab Mukherjee under UPA government for turning around tourism, medical and infrastructural sectors in the state.
The tenure of Chouhan matches with that of Kumar, both started in 2005 and so far have ruled for almost 13 years. In 2005, both states were underdeveloped, law and order situation was equally poor and both were a part of the dreaded BIMARU states club. The GDP of Madhya Pradesh in FY 19 is 8.26 lakh crore rupees (120 billion dollars) compared to 5.15 lakh crore rupees (73 billion dollars) of Bihar. Therefore the GDP of MP is almost 60 per cent more compared to Bihar despite having almost half the population. The per capita income of MP is 79,907 rupees per annum compared to 40,000 rupees of Bihar. The per capita income of MP is almost double of Bihar even though both states started at similar numbers in 2005.
The performance of Nitish Kumar comes across as extremely poor when we compare that with Chouhan. Nitish Kumar just tried to deliver welfare to ‘appease’ particular communities instead of working towards industrialization and attracting investment in the state. There is no doubt that ‘welfare’ increased under Nitish Kumar but most of it was done from the money of central government (grants) and the contributions from migrant Bihari workers. Being true to his ‘socialist’ ideals, Kumar did not take any steps for wealth generation. The investment in big infrastructure projects or industries is negligible. The Nitish Kumar model is not ‘sustainable’ as a state cannot live on central government’s grants forever.
From 2019 general election verdict, it is very clear that the electorates love PM Modi. It was in his name that LJP and JDU registered impressive numbers too. It’s time for the BJP to take control in its own hands and stake claims for the Chief Minister’s chair. JDU can opt to stay in or out of the government but what Bihar needs is a Shivraj Singh Chouhan. Decades of socialism has completely ruined this state which represented the very best of India in times of yore. Bihar has everything – excellent manpower, great connectivity with the rest of India and a young population that wants to shed the tag of being the residents of a BIMARU state.