SUNDAY TIMES OF INDIA, BANGALORE
JANUARY 10, 2010
From Basketcase To Booming Economy, Bihar Is On The Mend. Sunday Times Makes A Ground Check
BIHAR, A GROWTH STORY
Raj Kumar | TNN
R
oads “as smooth as Hema Mali-
ni’s cheeks” was a promise that
Lalu Yadav had once given to the
people of Bihar. Ironically, it is his
rival Nitish Kumar who seems to
be delivering on that front. De-
spite three years of floods followed by a year
of drought, ‘backward and benighted’ Bihar
reports a miraculous figure: 11% GDP growth,
second only to Gujarat. The state’s economy
has never grown so fast so consistently as it
has since 2004-2005. A few pointers on what’s
going right in Bihar:
● Getting anywhere in Bihar has always been
an exercise in endurance. But that’s chang-
ing. More than 6,800 km of roads have been
relaid and 1,600 bridges and culverts con-
structed in the last four years. Journey time
in India’s 12th largest state, sprawling over
94,163 sq km, has been cut by half today in
many places. Now, most of the state’s 38 dis-
tricts — from northernmost West Champaran
to Kaimur on the western end — are a drive
of six hours or less from Patna.
● Automobile sales in the state grew 45% in
2009, at a time when sales had dipped 20-25%
in several other states during the economic
slowdown. Is this buying spree an indication
that a section of Biharis have more money to
Gun-toting men are no longer a
common sight on the streets.
Policemen patrol them now.
This change has shown results.
Malls, shops, private schools
and colleges are coming up.
Real estate is booming
splurge than they did earlier? “A few people
had money earlier too, but they didn’t flaunt
it for fear of attracting extortionists and kid-
nappers,” says Ranjit Singh, director of a high-
end Patna hotel. That fear may have evapo-
rated now.
● Only 317 kidnappings for ransom were re-
ported during the last four years as against
1,393 during the previous four. The kidnap-
ping industry has clearly fallen on hard times.
One indication of this is that doctors no longer
refuse to go to patients’ homes on emergency
calls. “Today you can see boards at clinics say-
ing we go on calls,” says Dr Amulya Kumar
Singh, who runs a nursing home in Patna.
● Most of Bihar’s infamous dons are behind
bars. That includes Mohd Shahabuddin, the
former RJD MP who had once gone live on TV,
daring the state police chief to arrest him.
Things are a little different now. A ruling JD(U)
MLA, Sunil Pandey, attempted an encore of
sorts in early 2006 when he brandished a re-
volver and talked murder on TV. But Pandey
found himself behind bars within no time.
Speedy trials have ensured a total of 38,824
convictions between 2006 and September
2009.The convicts included dons and their
henchmen.
● Gun-toting strongmen are no longer a com-
mon sight on the streets of Bihar. Policemen
patrol them now. And places like Siwan, where
Shahabuddin once held sway, do not get de-
serted after dusk.
Nitish’s A-team: Bihari
babus show their mettle
Raj Kumar
& Pranava K Chaudhary | TNN
M
any in Bihar say Pratyay
Amrit’s name should be
entered into Guinness
World Records for helming
a sick corporation which built the
highest number of road bridges in a
year. As Bihar Rajya Pul Nirman
Nigam's CMD, this 1991-batch IAS of-
ficer oversaw completion of 259 ma-
jor bridge projects in three years
since 2006. In view of its success, the
nigam has now been given responsi-
bilities like road and hospital con-
struction, among other things. “Now
we are out of debt, making handsome
profits and are also spending crores
on philanthropy as part of our CSR
(corporate social responsibility),” a
nigam official says.
Pratyay delivered. So have others
in chief minister Nitish Kumar’s
A-team, who were chosen for their
competence. Earlier as principal sec-
retary (finance) and now as develop-
Afzal Amanullah R C P Singh
ment commissioner, Navin Kumar Cracked down Manages affairs
has been the chief strategist in fi- on criminals with
nancial matters. Known for his so-
briety, the 1975-batch IAS officer is
the man behind the state’s budget
drafts and also the all-important
memorandum to the finance com-
mission. He also heads the State In-
vestment Planning Board, formed by
the Nitish government to attract in-
vestment. The board mobilized pro-
posals worth Rs 96,000 crore in just
three years.
R K Singh was the builder during
the initial years of the Nitish regime.
Currently secretary (defence pro-
duction) at the Centre, the 1975-batch
officer was the architect of the de-
velopment of the state’s road network
as principal secretary, road con-
struction.
Madan Mohan Jha was specially
brought in from central deputation.
As HRD boss, he initiated the move
to recruit over two lakh teachers on
contract. He also conceptualized sev-
eral other projects. After his untimely
death in 2007, Anjani Kumar Singh
has been brought in as HRD princi-
pal secretary to complete his unfin-
ished work.
SPECIAL REPORT
Imaging: Ish Kumar
While Deepak Kumar managed
ALL THE CM’S MEN the key health department for the
first three years, Afzal Amanullah's
three-year tenure as home secretary
is still remembered for the bold ini-
tiative to rein in criminals, includ-
ing politicians of Nitish’s JD(U). The
1979-batch officer now looks after ur-
ban development.
Anup Mukherjee, as rural devel-
opment department head, supervised
implementation of poverty allevia-
Pratyay Amrit Anup Mukherjee tion schemes, including NREGA, and
won accolades for the state even from
Built a record Won accolades
259 bridges in for Bihar on the Centre. The 1974-batch officer,
three years NREGA front who believes in working quietly, is
the state’s chief secretary today.
Bureaucrat-turned-MP N K Singh
is also an important player in Nitish's
team. Not only does he give ideas to
the CM, but he is also credited with
successfully showcasing Bihar in the
country and abroad.
BACKROOM BOYS: During the Lalu-
Rabri regime, a single bureaucrat
called the shots at the CM’s office.
The change of guard brought a tech-
at CM’s savvy team to manage the affairs.
Ram Chandra Prasad Singh, 52, the
political links secretariat
CM’s principal secretary, has been
associated with Nitish Kumar since
1998 when the latter was railway min-
ister. Both Nitish and RCP, a 1984-
batch IAS officer of UP cadre, are
from Nalanda and belong to the same
caste. Insiders say Nitish treats RCP
like a family member.
Nitish also banks heavily on S Sid-
dharth (1991 batch) and Chanchal Ku-
N K Singh R K Singh mar (1992 batch). As secretaries to
Bihar’s brand Kickstarted the the CM, they coordinate with prin-
ambassador road rebuilding cipal secretaries of various depart-
at large project ments and oversee implementation
of welfare and development pro-
grammes. Siddharth, from Tamil
Nadu, is a BTech and has attended
advanced courses at IIM-Ahmedabad.
Chanchal, an MTech, has also stud-
ied micro-finance in the US.
There’s a clear division of work.
While Siddharth looks after infra-
structure departments like road,
building, urban development and en-
S Siddharth Chanchal Kumar ergy, Chanchal has been assigned so-
Oversees Oversees health, cial sector departments like educa-
infrastructure education tion, health, social welfare and dis-
aster management.
Pride and Prejudice
Vinay Pandey | TNN
W
ho carries you on a rickshaw
or an autorickshaw in Delhi?
Biharis. Who drives the cars of
Delhiites? Biharis. Who built
the Delhi Metro? Biharis. (You may not
agree with the last one.)
Who is building the new houses and the
expanding suburbs of Delhi? Biharis. Who
made Punjab the most prosperous state in
the country? The answer again is Biharis.
(Here too you may not agree.)
The credit for building the Delhi Metro
or making Punjab prosperous will never go
to Biharis. Does anyone ever say that blacks
built America?
In colonial days, Bihar supplied the gir-
mitiya, or indentured, labourers who built
countries like Mauritius, Suriname and
Fiji. A bulk of the labour employed in the
Raj capital of Calcutta came from Bihar. Af-
ter Independence
Those who Bihari workers
flocked to places
speak without like Delhi, Punjab
a Bihari accent and Mumbai.
get this At the same
compliment: time, Biharis ex-
celled in other
“Oh, you are fields. Many be-
from Bihar? came great politi-
But you don’t cal leaders, ICS
and IAS officers,
sound like a scientists, doctors,
Bihari.” engineers, writers
and artists. Delhi
and other Indian cities attracted huge white-
collar Bihari populations and Biharis
formed a large part of the Indian diaspora
of professionals.
But in the eyes of the rest of India, “Bi-
hari” had come to mean a labourer, a per-
son doing menial jobs. It had become a term
of scorn and contempt. In their anglicized
lingo, places like Delhi University turned
the word into “Harry”, but the pejorative
tone remained unmistakable.
Heaping scorn on the working classes
is a universal phenomenon. That is how
words like Negro, Paki (used for Pakista-
nis and Indians in Britain) and some of the
words denoting dalit castes in India earned
contemptuous connotations.
In fact, while Biharis were getting their
hands dirty on Punjab’s farms, Punjabis
were migrating in hordes to the US, Cana-
da, the UK and Australia. Never mind that
they would take up blue-collar jobs as taxi
drivers, petrol pump attendants and wait-
ers in those faraway lands.
BUT MILES
TO GO
POVERTY
54.4% of the population is
below the poverty line;
national average 37.2%
HEALTH
32.8% children fully
immunized; all-India 43.5%
55.9% children underweight;
national average 42.5%
45.1% women underweight,
highest in the country;
national average 35.6%
AGRICULTURE
81% of the population
employed in agriculture,
directly or indirectly
2.7% Annual growth in
agricultural GDP (1993-2003);
all-India growth 2.2%
ROADS
70% of the inhabited areas
in Bihar are not connected by
motorable roads, which is the
highest in the country
INDUSTRY
3.2% Share of industry in
economy; all-India 20.1%
POPULATION
82.9m Bihar’s population,
growing at more than 2%
per annum (2001 census)
90% of the population lives
in rural areas
LAND HOLDINGS
0.75 hectare Average size
of holdings; national average
1.41 hectares
82.9% Share of marginal
holdings less than 1 hectare
FLOODS
68.80 lakh hectares Total
flood- prone area in Bihar,
which is 73.06% of its total
area and 7.2% of the total
flood-prone area in the
country
Source: Report of Special Task
Force on Bihar, 2008
As the years passed, many of the Biharis
who had come to Punjab or Mumbai as man-
ual labourers started moving up the eco-
nomic ladder as did the blue-collar Indian
emigrants abroad. A usually unnoticed as-
pect of the so-called racial attacks against
Indians abroad is the threat the rise of work-
ing classes poses to the entrenched social
order. This accentuates the contempt they
face. From this angle, the attacks on Biharis
in Punjab, and Mumbai, and the attacks on
Indians abroad are manifestations of the
same phenomenon.
What stopped Biharis from bringing
about a green revolution or building a
Metro in Bihar? The answer is geography
and history. Geography, because ravaged
BRIDGING THE DIVIDE? The newly constructed Chiraiyatand flyover in Patna
by floods, the land of Bihar was unable to
feed its growing population. And history,
because what was the centre of the biggest
Indian empire in ancient times was re-
duced to an obscure provincial existence.
The skewed landownership system intro-
duced by the British rulers worsened the
situation. Things could have improved af-
ter Independence had the political leader-
ship of Bihar been able to exert influence
on the rulers in New Delhi to get enough
funds for development projects and set off
a process of industry in the state.
On the contrary, Bihar continued to live
the same, conveniently ignored, provincial
existence. A system built on casteism, nepo-
tism, corruption and crime came to domi-
nate the state. It spawned a neo-rich class
of netas, babus, contractors and govern-
ment engineers who would build palatial
houses for themselves with the money
19
This improvement has shown results.
Malls, shops and private educational institu-
tions are coming up. So are mobile service
providers and banking firms. It’s boom time
for real estate with apartment buildings com-
ing up all around. “That’s because even non-
Biharis for a change want to have a foot in Bi-
har which has become a better place to live
in,” says economist Shaibal Gupta of the
Asian Development Research Institute. Adds
Faizal Alam of Kalyanpur Cements, “Cement
inflow to the state went up 18% to 51 lakh
tonnes in 2008-09.” That’s an indicator of the
construction boom.
Ironically, this economic growth has hap-
pened without any worthwhile contribution
from the manufacturing sector. The state’s
economy is growing because of a boom in agri-
culture and services sectors. “It’s government-
induced growth,” admits Bihar Industries As-
sociation (BIA) president S P Sinha. Accord-
ing to former BIA president K P S Keshri, pri-
vate investments in the manufacturing sector
have been as little as Rs 1,500 crore during the
last four years.
Many attribute the growth to the fact that
the flow of Central funds to states has increased
manifold in recent years. In the case of Bihar,
it went up from Rs 37,341 crore during the five-
year period 2000-2005 to Rs 55,459 crore during
the next three years. But equally importantly,
the funds are now getting better utilized than
during the Lalu-Rabri regime when large
chunks remained unspent. Also, adds Gupta,
the state made concerted efforts to mobilise
internal resources with its own revenue col-
lection going up from Rs 2,919 crore in 2003-04
to Rs 5,256 crore in 2008-09.
The flip side is that much of this growth
does not get reflected in social indicators which
remain abysmal. But, as Gupta says, it would
be unrealistic for anyone to “expect the moon”
at this stage. “Right now the fundamentals are
getting corrected and therefore you can find
mostly infrastructural indicators of growth;
one will have to wait for social indicators to
become visible,” he says.
While contractors and realtors stand to
gain, more than half the state’s 8.2 crore peo-
ple — 1.25 crore families — still live below the
poverty line. For these families to prosper, Bi-
har desperately needs huge investments and
more growth. The State Investment Promotion
Board, formed by the Nitish government, has
received proposals worth Rs 96,000 crore. But
most of them, especially the major ones, re-
main on paper as Central rules prove a stum-
bling block. For instance, thermal power plants
cannot come up in Bihar because the Centre
has so far refused to provide coal linkages to
ensure regular supplies to any such new plant.
Also, Bihar has a lot of catching up to do
with the rest of India. “There cannot be any
comparison between Gujarat and Bihar, both
of which reportedly grew by over 11%; since
our base is low, even a small investment re-
sults in impressive growth in percentage,”
Gupta points out. State officials admit that cru-
cial sectors like health are still sick with mea-
gre resources in comparison to other states.
From its bleak past, Bihar may be finally
moving towards a brighter future, but the com-
mon Bihari is not patting himself just yet.
Maybe he is still waiting for this high growth
to translate into better food on his table and
more money in his pocket.
meant for dams, power projects, ration for
the poor or even fodder for cattle.
The money meant for roads and public
amenities would go into their bank accounts.
No wonder, the roads in front of those hous-
es would be full of ditches and become the
playground of pigs every monsoon.
With limited options of higher educa-
tion and hardly any employment opportu-
nities in the state, the youth of Bihar start-
ed looking out. They flooded places like Del-
hi University and Jawaharlal Nehru Uni-
versity. They started dominating the coun-
try’s toughest competitions like the IIT-JEE
and the civil services exam. With this suc-
cess, Biharis started believing they had the
best brains. The world began to grudging-
Photos: K M Sharma
ly acknowledge their capabilities.
Academic success, however, did not do
much to rid the word “Bihari” of the scorn
it had gathered. People in Delhi continued
to laugh at those who spoke with a Bihari
accent. Those without an accent would get
this compliment: “Oh, you are from Bihar?
But you don’t sound like a Bihari.”
Biharis, meanwhile, were retreating into
a shell, with little but the historic glory of
Buddha, Mahavira, Chandragupta,
Chanakya, Ashoka, Aryabhatta, Guru Gob-
ind Singh and Sher Shah to bask in. Now
comes 11% growth. The state can recover
from the damage it has suffered over hun-
dreds of years only if such a high rate of
growth can be sustained for many, many
years. Then Biharis would not have to till
others' land or build cities and countries
elsewhere.
The writer is proud to be a Bihari