Just sample this. It?s circa 652 CE. World?s premier university has just conducted its annual selection process for the incoming batch. For those few who have managed to secure a place in the university, life is a new dream, a passport to success, an opportunity to rub shoulders with those who represent the cutting edge in science, technology and management. And the university in consideration is not one of the Ivy league in the USA, but an Indian university in the Indian state of Bihar?the Nalanda University. Though unbelievable, it?s true. The apparent incredibility of this scenario stems from how we have come to view Bihar and its contribution to India?s international standing.
It was the intellectual revolution, the seeds of which were sown in the hallowed portals of Nalanda, which did India proud in the world. The epicentre of pride of the then India was in Bihar?in Magadha, Maurya, and the Gupta empires. Bihar led the evolution of India as a leader in the comity of nations. However, now, when India seeks a place at the head table among nations, what role is Bihar playing, if any?
In 1820, China generated 33% of world?s output and India about another 16%. During the 19th century, the two Asian countries lagged the rapidly growing economies of Western Europe and North America. By the mid-20th century, China?s share of output had fallen to 5% and India?s to 3%. However, history is again turning a page and the coming decades should be quite exciting for India. Future estimates by global players indicate that India would be among the top two or three economies of the world in another 30 years. In many ways, it will be a return to the days of Asian dominance when China and India were the top two economies of the world. Unfortunately, unlike before, this time the catalyst for India?s re-emergence is far from the fertile plains of Bihar.
Bihar?s destiny has been interwoven with the nation?s. Bihar contributed enormously to the struggle for Independence and its aftermath. Mahatma Gandhi begun the first Satyagraha movement from Bihar?s Champaran district in 1918. Independent India got its first President Dr Rajendra Prasad from Bihar. According to P Appleby, an international public administration expert, Bihar in the 50s, was the best administered state in India. How then did the finely intertwined destiny of the state and the nation began to unravel?
In the 90s, social engineering sought to voice the interests of the backward castes. This, in some ways, provided social and psychological boost to a large number of people in feudal Bihar. Economic progress, however, took a back seat. While other states in India speedily marched ahead, Bihar recorded the lowest growth. Crime, particularly kidnappings, became so rampant that people would avoid even visiting the state capital Patna. Institutions decayed, processes stagnated. Immigrant population from Bihar spread to several prosperous states, namely, Punjab, Maharashtra and others. Bihar today supplies the largest number of immigrant labour to India. Until mid-50s, 25% of India?s sugar output was from Bihar. Presently, this has slipped down to 2%. Sugar factories set up since the British days started closing. (Thanks to Centre?s HPCL?s initiative towards having captive ethanol supplies, two of the closed sugar factories are being revived in Champaran districts. However, several others continue to decay in disrepair.)
The word ?Bihari? came in vogue to mean boorish and backward. Bihari labourers and students became an object of wrath in some parts of the country and were subjected to attacks. Overall, there was a decline in its economy within and its image outside. According to the Economist, ?Bihar (had) become a byword for the worst of India, of widespread and inescapable poverty, of corrupt politicians indistinguishable from mafia-dons they patronise, caste-ridden social order that has retained the worst feudal cruelties?(2004).
Latest reports suggest a growth rate of 11%, almost the highest among states. However, even at this rate, after 25 years Bihar would have a per capita income at one-fifth of Maharashtra. The number of development indicators where the state continues to be among the poorest reads like a veritable list of alphabets?literacy, agricultural productivity, industrial growth, people below poverty line, per capita income, debt as percentage of GDP etc. The poor state of infrastructure and almost recurring drought as well as floods in predominantly agricultural state with about 90% people living in rural areas is a major deterrent to investment.
Its teeming masses are crying for employment. With almost 60% of the population below 25 years of age, the unemployment situation is bound to deteriorate further. The population density of the state is among the highest in the country. Implies, the per capita natural resource base is among the poorest in India. Bihar, however, remains important in many ways. In a democracy numbers count and Bihar (after partition of Jharkhand in 2000), represents 8% of India?s population and 7% of the Lok Sabha seats. It has a sizeable number of deprived groups; over 15% scheduled castes and over 16% of minorities. As a result, Bihar has always been the hotbed for politics. For Bihar?s own sake, it now needs to become a hub for creative economics, imaginative human resource development strategy, a programme for boosting agricultural productivity, of expeditious infrastructure development, particularly power and roads, for tourism and for good governance.
But above all, we need a political and administrative system which downplays the divisiveness on grounds of caste and sub-castes, religions and beliefs and concentrates on accelerating the development process. The Centre, too, will have to have a special strategy to support states like Bihar so that the growth story of 30 years remains equitable and sustainable. The ancient Bihar pursued innovativeness and excellence in politics, economy, education, arts and culture. The Bihar of today must reassert its strategies on similar lines. Perhaps then, it won?t be that hard to imagine a Bihar with its due place in the glory of India.
The writer hails from West Champaran district of Bihar. Views are personal