Realising Bihar’s full economic potential

For too long now, the state has survived on promises, poverty, and payments from outside

- AJAY DUA

An intensive voter awareness campaign has been launched across Patna district to promote greater electoral participation during Bihar assembly elections, in Patna on Saturday, ANI

(ANI)

The 130 million residents of Bihar must be lauded for their patience and optimism, particularly since the nineties, when the Indian economy broke ranks with the “Hindu rate” of economic growth.

As their state continues to drift without achieving the scale or progress seen in several other parts of India, Bihar remains one of the poorest provinces, with a per capita income of about a quarter of the national average. The regular inflow of remittances from its residents working elsewhere in the Union keeps family-consumption somewhat above the local earnings. In addition to the large expenditure by the Bihar administration, the state depends heavily upon the sizeable Central government-owned and run public enterprises. Local investment of any kind is minuscule, with commercial banks’ credit to residents adding up to a laughable 0.5% of the deposits raised within the state each year.

‘The deprivation in Bihar, caused by laggard economic and social progress, is widespread and severe. This is particularly intriguing since the state is relatively well endowed in natural resources and man-made infrastructure. Water availability from the numerous large and perennial rivers like the Ganga and Kosi is high, and the potential to irrigate farmland compared to total arable land is higher than in most states. Yet agriculture, the primary vocation, has lower productivity per worker and per acre. Diversification of crops has been slow, subsistence farming remains the norm, and cultivation for market sale continues to be limited.