Last Sunday on 10th Jan’2010, Chief Minister of Bihar Nitish Kumar was conferred with “Business Reformer of the year” award at the Economic Times awards 2009. A few days earlier Bihar registered a 11.3% growth for the period 2004-09 (next only to Gujarat with 11.5%). This award is just a feather in the cap of Nitish Kumar, who over the year has shown what good governance can do for the state. Are we too early in celebrating? People following Bihar, over the years, will agree that there is no denying fact that intellectual capability of Biharis are unmatched. This can be gauged from the number of IITians, IAS officers & IPS officers Bihar produce every year. But then why the hand which led to the development of other states and countries could not replicate the same for its own land?
There are many reasons which can be attributed to the non-development of Bihar. Some people might attribute historical reason while some might attribute geographical reasons for the non-development. But the most important reason for the backwardness of Bihar was the non-existent of “political will”. Geographically Bihar might have been ravaged by flood every year, but then one must also be aware that the land next to the Ganges is among the most fertile land in the country. The skewed landownership system introduced by the British rulers together with the caste system was a recipe for disaster. But the factor that broke the backbone of the state was the high level corruption and non-existent of “political will”. Year after year, the money for development would go into some unknown Swiss bank account, where even money was made out of fodder, where for every deal one would have to satisfy the thirst of corrupt officials, and the list goes on. With no sign of development, lack of opportunities and limited options for education, the exodus began. Exodus of the intellectual mind together with the rise of criminalization in politics over the years led to the downfall of one of the modern states of ancient times.
The state which is deep engulfed into a complex caste system, where the MY factor actually helped Lalu to come to power and where elections are still won or lost on the basis of caste, development has always been a non issue. It’s no hidden secret that courtesy Lalu’s regime, Bihar has gone 50 years backward. And it will take much more than political will to bring back the state to normal. And by much more I mean support from business houses by investing more and more in Bihar. As aptly pointed by Nitish Kumar; “I am thankful to the people, who selected us for the Business Reformer of the Year award. So, some business should also come to the State. Otherwise, what will be the meaning of this award?”
