Current development model not delivering for Bihar: Report

A report has flagged critical structural constraints in Bihar’s farm economy, claiming that the current model of development has not delivered for the second-most populous state.

- HIMANSHI BHARDWAJ

It added that the state’s unremunerative agriculture sector is keeping its per capita income among the lowest in India.

The report by the Kotak-ICRIER Centre of Excellence for Agriculture Policy, Sustainability, and Innovations (KICEAPSI), titled ‘Bihar's Economic Dilemma — What It Can Learn from Some Laggard States?’ synthesises five research studies. These trace persistent gaps in the state’s agricultural performance and the urgent policy shifts required to unlock higher rural incomes.

“Agriculture is vital to Bihar since about 70-75 per cent of the population depends on farming or allied activities for livelihood. Unless agriculture becomes vibrant and more remunerative, it is difficult for the majority of people in Bihar to become prosperous,” the report said.

The report underscores that India's eastern and central belt, comprising Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand, Odisha, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, and West Bengal, trail on most economic indicators. And, Bihar most sharply typifies the development imbalance.