No dearth of talent, youthful energy or resources but Bihar lacks leadership.
BIHAR HAS THE the dubious distinction of being the state with the highest migration rate of its youth. Unlike Punjab and Haryana, where large sections of youth dream of migrating abroad, the youth from Bihar come to these states and other parts of the country looking for employment.
It is obvious that the lack of opportunities back home forces these youth to take up jobs, mostly menial, for a living.
It is the third most populous state in the country, with half of its population below the age of 25, but remains the poorest and a laggard in several human development index parameters.
For instance, as per official figures, Bihar stands at the last spot among all 29 states in areas like underweight children, stunted children, lack of health insurance, and the percentage of population using improved sanitation facilities.
It stands at last but one — that is, the 28th slot — in the percentage of female population aged six and above who have ever attended school, and has the highest number of women married before the age of 18. The state is third from the bottom as far as the infant mortality rate is concerned.
The latest annual survey of factories lists just 3,386 factories in the state, which is barely 1.3 per cent of all factories in the country. Bihar’s share in the total number of workers employed in its factories is merely 0.75 per cent.
A large part of the blame for the current state of Bihar goes to its political leaders and caste politics. Their myopic vision, which does not go beyond winning elections every five years, has brought the state with the most potential to its knees.
The ongoing assembly elections in the state are proving to be no different, with the two main rivals — the National Democratic Alliance and the Mahagathbandhan — offering generous freebies for their short-term political gains rather than focusing on development and creation of avenues for jobs.
The Mahagathbandhan, led by the Rashtriya Janata Dal and Congress, has promised jobs, but it is obvious that the promise is meant to win the elections rather than add value to the state. It has promised one government job to each family in the state. There is no plan for creating jobs in the private sector or encouraging entrepreneurship.
Simple arithmetic is enough to prove that the promise to provide a government job to an estimated 26 million families would cost nearly ₹6,50,000 crore to the state exchequer if the Mahagathbandhan comes to power. It has also promised ₹2,500 per month to “eligible women” for the next five years.
The Nitish Kumar-led NDA government has gone a step ahead by transferring ₹10,000 each to over 1.2 crore women, ostensibly as start-up money for self-employment. That was a good initiative for job creation, but eyebrows have been raised because the scheme was announced at the fag end of the 20-year rule of Nitish Kumar. In fact, it came a few days before the formal announcement of elections and the enforcement of the model code of conduct.
What is even more shocking in this open bribery to garner votes of women was a “special permission” taken from the Election Commission that allowed the money to be transferred into the bank accounts of women even during the campaign period, including days before the actual voting.
No wonder the credibility of the Election Commission of India is in tatters, and even the judiciary has turned a blind eye to what’s going on in Bihar. For the vast majority of the media, the less said the better.
With such a huge manpower and resources at its command, besides the ambition among its youth, Bihar has the potential to become one of the leading states of the country.
It deserves better leaders with a vision for developing infrastructure, creating jobs, enabling entrepreneurship, improving standards of health and education, and ensuring better enforcement of laws. 
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Vipin Pubby
The author, a freelance journalist, is a former Resident Editor of Indian Express, Chandigarh, and reported on the political developments in Jammu and Kashmir, North-Eastern India, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, Haryana and Punjab in his long, illustrious career.
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