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New Delhi:
As Bihar's growth story under the Nitish Kumar administration gets
increasingly talked and written about, a book based on a study of
the state over the past three decades contends that development
has been highly concentrated in urban areas while manufacturing
and agriculture have seen little growth.
The book attributes the improvement in economic growth primarily
to the tertiary sector and the service industry, noting that while
the former has grown, the primary sector - agriculture and allied
activities - remains stagnant.
The book, titled 'The Challenge of Inclusive Development in Rural
Bihar', that was released Friday, is published by Institute for
Human Development, a non-profit institution that studies
development-related issues.
"The improvement in economic growth can primarily be attributed to
the considerable rise in the growth rates of sectors such as
transport and communication, trade and construction. The
construction sector has in fact played the most significant
role...," say authors Gerry Rodgers, Alakh N. Sharma, Amrita Datta,
Janine Rodgers, and Sunil K. Mishra.
The book is based on a longitudinal study of several villages in
Bihar between 1981 and 2011.
It has highlighted that the growth in construction has witnessed a
big boom, reaching an annual growth rate of almost 20 percent
during 2004-05 to 2010-11, compared to 12 percent in 1999-2000 to
2004.
"There has also been substantial growth in the services sector,
especially in transport, trade and hotels," it said.
However, the manufacturing and agricultural sectors have seen
little growth.
"The pattern of growth appears to be unbalanced, mainly reflecting
the construction of roads and housing, and the consequent
expansion in trade, service and related activities. Moreover,
Patna the state capital, accounts for the largest share of this
growth," the book added.
According to Economic Survey, Bihar recorded a double digit growth
of 11.95 percent in the 11th Plan period (2007-12), the highest
among all states. The state, which is one of the most backward in
the country, has been demanding a special economic package. The
Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government finally
heeded to Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar's demand and on April
18 cleared a special package of Rs.12,000 crore.
The book stresses that the biggest problem continues to be poor
infrastructure and says the state is caught in a "vicious circle
of low investment caused by low level of economic development and
widespread poverty".
"The pattern of growth in Bihar itself tells what is wrong. The
infrastructure is in shambles and population growth is high," said
senior journalist Prem Shankar Jha at the book launch.
"Domination of economic policies by economists has led to neglect
of historical factors. Bihar and the adjacent area was the richest
before the battle of Plassey (1757), and was looted beyond
imagination by the British colonialists. Post-independence,
instead of repairing the damage, we became the new colonialists
sitting in Delhi," he said.
Jha added that the lack of investment from the private sector is a
major lacunae and the government alone should not be held
responsible for ignoring the region.
"The fact that the imbalance has been created by lack of private
investment has still not sunk in," he said.
However, there are positive developments on the rural front as
well, mainly in the form of change in the caste equations and
breaking of the semi-feudal agrarian system.
"The biggest change is in the agrarian structure of the state.
Bihar is known for the semi-feudal structure, but that is now
breaking down. Though the caste-class equations are still there,
the relation between the landowner and the tiller has moved from
being a landlord-labour relation to a market force-oriented one,"
said Alakh N. Sharma, one of the authors of the book.
"Also, there is diversification in landholdings, with a lot of
middle level castes having ownership of land," he said.
Author Gerry Rodgers says there is a gap between the projected
double digit growth and the real picture on the ground, terming it
worrisome. "We are worried about the gap in the double digit
growth and the situation. Sometimes we wonder what is that they
are measuring," he said.
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