The key news that I read about Bihar today was that the government was going to convert most routes reaching Patna from any direction (Patna to be connected by four-lane roads), would be widened to 4 lane roads. This is indeed good as we are far behind a lot of states where the state capitals are connected by 4 lane or even 6 lane roads from various directions which has been a vehicle for those states prosperity.
However, I had a very basic question as we step through day 2 of year 2013 : How long can we sustain the gdp growth and the growth of the people of Bihar just relying on the road constructions?
We need more longer term avenues through which people can by themselves generate money to sustain their growth. Road construction is just an artificial way of supplementing people's growth but can only be done for sometime. What we really need are other areas and avenues of development which can become a self sustaining and self propelling growth instrument. For this we need the following:
- Power - Dedication and focus in getting Bihar the 5000MWs of power by 2015 that the minister has promised. Looking more granularly, there should be no delays in getting 500MWs of power added to Bihar every 6 months from the beginning of 2013. If anything this should only grow to 1000 MWs or more every 6 months by the end of 2013. (Read Bihar to become power surplus by 2016: Minister)
- Industry - Try as much, we have not seen any real industrial grow in Bihar. The State government has to accord priority and make it attractive for industries and industrial houses to set foot in Bihar. Till now this seems to be lacking. Couple this with the problems of power, it looks like Bihar is going to remain devoid of industries until 2016. Without industries any major growth will be inhibited and the industrial policy has to be made so attractive that the industrial houses are forced to set shop in Bihar even with the problems of power being faced today.
- Tourism - Like I keep mentioning, tourism is the mainstay of immediate growth of Bihar, outside of agriculture and a key focus has to be put to implement all the projects within defined time frames which seems to be not happening at this time. A lot of projects are being announced, but I don't hear any thing on the completion of these projects. Either they are not be announced or they are not getting completed in time. (Example - Tutla waterfalls about which I have written in my article Apathy in taking up Tourism projects)
- Agriculture - Identify ways by which the farmers can be empowered to produce more out of their lands and prosper. Maybe its just spreading education on the advances in the art of farming. Today farmers are the people, who suffer the most in our country and make the least amount of money even though they feed the billion plus people of India.
- Diversification outside of agriculture - Can we look at diversifying into other related areas like honey making, etc which can be done on not so much productive land? I don't know but thats a thought to ponder upon and there would be experts who could answer this question.
There is a lot to be done and miles to go before we can sleep. A strong, focused and motivated bureaucracy and state machinery including the state government is required in order to fulfill the dreams of Biharis. Are we all upto it?
Yes Bihar needs to start setting up industralisation and IT establishment to get on fast track of growth.
ReplyDeletegood to finally see Bihar kicking under Nitish Kumar
China has been able to stimulate its GDP by infrastructure investment and even US. To be frank, in Bihar, govt expenditure is still very low compared to china and well below international level of developed countries of course. Having said that, I am quite sure that the growth rate can be maintained for another 5-7 years even if it goes as it is right now.
ReplyDeleteRoads and bridges don't provide a permanent job which is a big factor for changing the life style. In remote areas people still don't have access to clean water, roads or much awaited bridges. Govt cant provide everything. So it cant be denied that we need private companies to invest to generate good paying jobs. Right now all of the investments that we have are low paying ones.
Agriculture seems like a good place to start and I'm happy that plans are already in place.
Just 12 garden beds measuring four feet by eight feet each can produce a total of more than 1 ton of vegetables per year when planned carefully.
Source: http://www.ehow.com/how_5934505_live-off-acre-land.html#ixzz2HQGcOsh0.
As bihar has a very fertile land and the current income of farmers is way too low, by adding new crops and methods along with adding animal husbandry and fishing to the agriculture, our farmers can have a nice income. (Govt and NGOs can work here).
I totally agree with you on all the points and that a lot has to be done.
I feel providing infrastructure is the responsibility of a Govt. If Law & Order, Power, Communiction (roads etc), Health, Education is taken care of, then investments from all corners of the world will pour in. I believe it is a false propaganda of those in power and the private sector that only private investment can improve the state of the poor in India. The profit motive of business is more cut-throat than philanthropic. Hence, building good roads is essential for growth.
DeleteGO AND TRY TENDERING FOR ANY WORK IN ANY GOVT. DEPTT AND AT ANY PLACE IN BIHAR, YOU WILL SURELY RETURN HOME WITH BROKEN NOSE AND TORN SHIRT...THIS WHEN GOD IS HAPPY WITH U, OTHERWISE WHO KNOWS?AND NOW GO TO DELHI OR SOUTH...DO THE SAME THING AND SEE THE DIFFERENCE.SELF BACK PATTING WILL NOT HELP,PUT YOUR ACTS TOGETHER THEN ASK INDUSTRIALISTS TO COME. THEY WILL MORE THAN HAPPY TO COME.
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