New Bihar pushes for big business

In the fifth edition of ‘Samriddhi’, organised by Business Standard, the Bihar government and the business people of the state came together to make the land of Lord Buddha, the high seat of learning in the past, one of the most developed in the country in the next few years.

Bihar is poised to be the next biggest attraction for industries in the country. With a growth rate of above 10 per cent, today major national and international companies are making a beeline to enter Bihar. Local entrepreneurs and the state government are also more than happy to welcome them to the state.In the fifth edition of ‘Samriddhi’, an event organised by Business Standard Hindi daily, businessmen and the government seemed to be united to make Bihar a developed state in the next few years. The chief guest of the event Chief Minister Nitish Kumar gave many useful advices to make that possible. “Local entrepreneurs hold the key for development. They have to make the first move. Then only outsiders will come to the state with investment,” said the chief minister. He added: “Until they are assured about stable development, big business houses will remain shy.”

Speaking about the law and order situation in the state, he said: “When we took the reins of the state, our first priority was the basic law and order situation. We took out the fear from the mind of the common man. There was never a drought of money in Bihar. There were businesses and people used to earn good also,” said Nitish Kumar. “However, lack of security and poor law and order situation was a problem. Businessmen migrated from the state. We tackled this problem and provided them proper security. Now, they can spend money at their will. You will find numerous expensive cars on the roads of Bihar. Earlier, buying Maruti 800 was such a big problem. Today, nobody who has money thinks twice before buying a Toyota SUV. The situation has changed. Now people want to come back to Bihar. Investors are searching for new avenues to invest here.”

The chief minister also said: “We have also started to invest heavily on roads. No nation and state can develop without good network of roads. Everybody needs a good road. Good network of roads ensure fast human development. Children can go to school and patients can get better treatment. Farmers can get better money for their produce and traders can quickly send their goods to the market. The situation of roads is improving in the state. What was earlier a ride on the humps of a camel, now is as smooth as silk.” “We even invested more than Rs 1,000 crore on development of national highways. This is not the domain of the state government, but still we did it. We wanted an improved standard of living for our people. So we did it,” said Kumar.

He said: “Today, people are talking about the development of Bihar. We do not want to take the credit. We just did and are doing our work. Actual work was done by the people of Bihar who voted for us. People of Bihar should be congratulated for the change. We are doing what we have been chosen to do.” The business community of the state fully backed their leader for his development agenda. “The business community is firmly standing behind the state government in its development agenda. We are ready to put all our efforts in the development of Bihar. What makes a state or nation developed? Good government and clear path of development. Today Bihar has both of them. So, nobody can stop it now,” said Bihar Chamber of Commerce President O P Sah.

On the other hand, ex-president of Bihar Industries Association K P Jhunjhunwala said: “A few years back A P J Abdul Kalam visited the state. During his visit he gave the idea of Vision 2015. He called upon us to make Bihar a developed state by 2015. For that, he emphasised on three sectors -- agriculture and agro industries, tourism and human resource development. I, too, think these three sectors will open up new avenues of growth for Bihar.”

However, C K Mishra, Principal Secretary to the Industries Department, thinks the SME sector is going to be the key for the development of the state. He said: “We have to focus on what we have. Take the example of the food processing sector. We have almost infinite possibilities in this sector. Even today, almost 60 per cent of the population of the state is dependent on agriculture. We are the largest producer of vegetables and second largest producer of fruits. If this sector grows, there is a good possibility that development can reach to the last person in the state.”

Jeevandas Narayan does not fully back the comments of Mishra. The chief general manager (Bihar-Jharkhand) of State Bank of India said: “Nobody can deny the role of SMEs in development, but we have to focus on big companies too. We have to make them invest in Bihar. They will bring the real economic development with them. They will invest heavily and it can provide hundreds of thousands of jobs. They can bring in many of their supporting units and competitors too. So, it is essential for Bihar to attract the big guns.”

One of the B-schools in the state, IIBM’s managing director U K Singh emphasised the need for development of Information Technology in Bihar. He said: “Our boys are making it big in the world of information technology. To attract the big companies, we have to attract our kids to Bihar. Only then IT/ITeS companies will come to Bihar.”

“We are ready for this sector. We are developing an IT Park in Bihta, near Patna. Infosys is going to open up an incubation centre in that park. However, discussions are still on in this sector. So, I cannot divulge anything more about it,” said Mishra.

Everybody in the panel demanded more support from the central government for the development of Bihar. Sah said: “We desperately need electricity. Right now we are getting not more than 800-900 Mw from the central pool, which is much less than our requirement of 3,500 Mw. For faster development, we also need special category state status from the central government. Only then big money would start to follow.”

Nitish Kumar lambasted the Centre for not providing adequate support in the development of Bihar.

“We could have done a much better job, had the Centre supported us. Last year, during the assembly elections, minister from the central government were saying about providing coal blocks. It makes no sense. If somebody is hungry, you cannot give him a land lease. He will need food. We do want coal blocks, but first our priority is coal linkage. Then only we can produce power for our state. Apart from it, we also want New Delhi’s nod on ethanol production. It is not making any progress. This would have attracted investors, but we are stuck in the process.”

Laloo's Lathi Raj

Shanker Prasad Tekriwal

Shanker Prasad Tekriwal, Bihar’s former finance minister, on why Bihar needs a third alternative - an alternative to the lathi and trishul politics. Mr. Tekriwal resigned from the Rabri Devi government when several of his own relatives were kidnapped and also due to large scale corruption in all government departments. Since then he has been an independent MLA voicing the concerns of the trading community and warning people against Laloo’s brand of politics.

Shri Laloo Yadav’s lathi rally is just a sign of his own frustration and desperation. And its not surprising why. In the early nineties he began with his first major rally called the Garib (poor) rally, largely attended by half-clad dalits, the downtrodden and poor people. And from Patna’s Gandhi Maidan he gave his clarion call for their social and economic upliftment. He gave this other slogan, “Padho ya maro” (Study or Perish) ... But sadly during his 13-year rule not a single new primary school has been opened. Instead, with much fanfare, he opened 80 charwaha vidyalayas meant mainly for children of cowherds. But today all of the charwaha vidyalayas are also shut. And in the existing primary schools 40,000 teachers posts lie vacant. The result is that even schools within reach of the poor are without teachers. The entire education department is reeling with corruption – from appointments of teachers to examinations. He announced that teachers from government approved madrasas will get pay equal to that of other government school teachers. Even that remains a mere promise. He announced the appointment of 15,000 Urdu teachers in the state but that promise too remains unfulfilled. Schooling in Bihar is anything but education.

In a state where Mahatma Gandhi began his satyagraha, the practice of service latrines continue and night soil is still carried on the head.

Roti, Kapda aur Makaan

The red card scheme for the poorest of the poor remains unimplemented. Deserving families have to grease the palms of government employees to get the cards. The old age pension scheme approved by the Prime Minister is not being implemented. Though there is so much poverty around, the Bihar government failed to select the required number of deserving people with the result that this scheme for a lakh of old persons also failed to reach such people. In recent years about 12 lakh tonnes of free foodgrains or subsidized foodgrains were allotted to the state by the Centre but only 3 lakh tonnes foodgrain could be lifted. During the last floods one lakh tonnes foodgrain was given to Bihar for distribution among the flood victims but only 8,000 tonnes could be lifted. And with so much poverty, clothing is beyond the reach of many ... Talking of housing for the poor, in just one scheme the Indira Awas Yojna, the poor have to pay as much as 3,000 to 4000 rupees as corruption money for the money to be sanctioned and colossal funds from the centre that could build one lakh houses have lapsed. Inspite of available funds to the tune of 135 crores of rupees in 1998 for rural electrification, 70 crores are still lying unspent! Besides, another 50 crores from the centre still remains unspent.

And road conditions in Bihar continue to be among the worst in the country. Good roads are conspicuous by their absence. Of the Rs.150 crores for the Prime Ministers Rural Road Scheme, only Rs.50 crores could be utilised in 2000-2001. And for 2001-2002, 302 crore rupees has been sanctioned long back but even tenders haven’t been finalised yet. And finally, for the years 2002-2003 more than 400 crores were earmarked for the state but due to the sheer lack of work culture no funds could be sanctioned for 2003-2004.

Similarly, for the development of agriculture, the centre sanctioned 4,700 crores under the Micro-mode scheme under which the states contribution will only be 10 per cent. Here too the state failed miserably to utilise the scheme.

Bihar seems to top the country in the number of scams being probed by the CBI, right from the fodder scam, bitumen scam, poshahaar yojna scam, maidha scam, muster roll scam and so on. Since the exposure of the fodder scam, Bihar’s animal husbandry department has become non-functional. And the number of scams being probed by the states own vigilance department are just too many. The state government is virtually being run by the High Court! Provision for drinking water, clearance of drains, removal of encroachments, holding of panchayat elections, giving the panchayats their constitutional powers, payment of salaries to employees and even their promotions are all being done on the orders of the Patna High Court.

Shri Laloo Yadav had said before the 2000 assembly elections that Jharkhand will be created only over his dead body!! But after the elections and when he needed the support of the Congress Party to form a government, he readily accepted bifurcation of the State just to keep himself in power. He knows in his hearts of hearts that once out of power his only place is behind bars due to his personal involvement in corruption.

Since he has done nothing for either the development of the state or for the upliftment of the poor and downtrodden or farmers and labourers and the minorities – he cannot to defend himself against these charges. So now his modus operandi is to hurl accusations against the Centre and the BJP. He believes ‘offence is the best form of defence’.

He is least interested in the welfare of the state. On the contrary his concentration is on the welfare of himself and his wife chief minister Rabri Devi’s family. I have often said that the state has two chief ministers and two treasurers. Laloo Yadav is the defacto chief minister. The lust for money in the family has crossed all limits so much so that even kidnappings for ransom are managed. It is well known in Bihar that both crime and corruption are state sponsored.

And hence this lathi rally. The lathi rally is only to pat the criminals and illiterate people. For the rally both public and private transport were hijacked and that too during Bihar’s marriage season ... many brides and grooms had to postpone their weddings. Some 50 crore rupees rangdaree was collected from businesses and government officials. The message is very clear that he intends to capture power in the next elections with the help of criminals and the bureaucracy.

# Mr. Shanker Prasad Tekriwal, a former Finance Minister in the Bihar government.

The Bihari: Prisoner of his Own Image

Manoje Nath

The Bihari - simple, loyal, friendly, yet he continues to have a label of mild reproach. The author investigates why everyone including the Bihari himself feels comfortable with the stereotypical image.

A Bihari is apt to suffer from low self-esteem. Unquestioningly and for so long has he submitted to and tried to live by the image of him created by the media and folk lore, that often enough his authentic self is masked or lies dormant. Just as the Punjabi is believed to be pushy and overbearing, a Tamil wily and unctuous, the popular image of the Bihari reinforced by the films is that of an affable, home-sick person full of innate talent and resourcefulness but somehow good only as domestic help or indentured labour. Generous, gullible and a bit of a fool. In short a rank interloper in a world determined to succeed at any cost. A Bhojpuri saying maintains that the wife of the weak is fair game for mild flirtation for everyone. So, a Bihari is a standard butt of joke and ridicule all over. And no offence meant, mind you!

And yet can this popular image be related to the facts of biology? A Bihari can hold his own against most inhabitants from other states. In intelligence, drive, perseverance and other attributes he is more likely to carry the day than not. His poverty cannot for that matter be defined in terms of deficiency of resources of the state. Bihar is a rich, green, luxuriant yet a poor state where everything of value is abundant and bountiful.

It ensures farming operations in the Punjab while labour is in short supply at home; it provides the grist for formidable academic competitions in the institutions of Delhi while the state could have done well to retain the alumni to lend a semblance of life to the morbid and moribund academic institutions here. In fact Bihar is the classical poor. He underwrites the prosperity of the richer states by conniving at his own exploitation.

The state has sunk slowly while the rest have climbed. Mutely and uncomprehendingly it has watched the others march ahead while it has fallen into a time warp. The fabric of space-time is bent not only temporally but also in terms of the attitudes and mental makeup of the people. A state which set up the first steel plant in the country is, in terms of industrial development, at the bottom of the heap. A state where the public library movement could be said to be highly developed way back in thirties and forties has an abysmally and unconscionably large population of illiterates. Its administration, which was a model of efficiency in the 50’s, is groaning under various strains.

And yet it is business as usual for a Bihari. His complete sang-froid, his failure to react would be incredible if it were not true. A Bihari would be feign to accept the facts of his exploitation because no one is born a Bihari, he becomes a Bihari. A Bihari exists only because of a subtle and insidious sense of discrimination. He is designated a loser, he is encouraged to live by the image of himself so that the stark contradiction of his fate does not become apparent to him. Because then he may actually bestir himself and do something about it.

It is true that Bihar has been fairly well represented in the Central Government for quite a long time; but while other states enjoyed the substance of the national resources cake Bihar was forced to make do with the shadow of it. While Bihar remained satisfied with tokens and symbols, the lucre went the other way. A Bihari is supposed to be meek and gentle, therefore he should not clamour and demand his share like those other difficult states.

Bihar was in the forefront of the independence movement; in the shape of the J.P. movement it started yet another innovative political experiment. But it is the job of a Bihari to be a political activist and ideologue! What is unbecoming of him is to demand a greater share in the resources that have to be diverted elsewhere to stem the appeal of terrorism and secessionism. A Bihari can be taken for granted but not the others. There is lawlessness; there is tardy utilization of resources so how can investments be made? It is a different matter that funds have been sunk in direct proportion to the increase in anarchy and subversion in other places Bihar has such a glorious past of asceticism and other worldliness, therefore for a Bihari to crave for a better standard of life would be a denial of his past.

So he must contemplate his navel. Hark back to the time of the Buddha and Ashoka and Mahavira or Kuar Singh. In any case no further than the 50’s. He can keep his past. His present will be taken good care of. He must not raise issues like proportionate investment of the money mobilized by the national banks in the state or even equitable compensation for its mineral resour-ces. Such issues threaten the integrity of the country; put an intolerable strain on the already bedevilled polity. Such thoughts spawn radicalism, raise doubts and uncomfortable questions.

And above all the assiduously cultivated and cherished image of the Bihari Babu stands to be discredited. A Bihari qua Bihari has no option but to submit because these are not his cue lines. The meek, up country character almost apologetic about his existence cannot storm the center stage and demand his rightful place under the sun. In the language of the pulpit it is not in the national interest. And no one could be more eager to pay heed to such sagacious advice than the Bihari himself!

# MR. MANOJE NATH is a senior police officer and an occasional writer, based in Bihar.

Bihar's paddy cultivation dips by 58%

Sowing area of paddy in Bihar, which registered 42% less rainfall, has declined by 58% to 15 lakh hectares. In the kharif season, the state also suffers from less area under cultivation compared to the last season. S Singh, deputy director - statistic, Bihar agriculture department, said, "In the last kharif season, the acreage stood at 34.5 lakh hectare. The targeted area for the ongoing Kharif season was 35.5 lakh hectare." The union agriculture ministry said that due to less rainfall, area under coverage of rice in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar is less than last year. Planting will continue up to August-end in eastern Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. In an official statement, the ministry, said, "Overall, the total paddy acreage till August 6 is 228.19 lakh hectares, 58 lakh hectares less than the year-ago period. In case of oilseeds and pulses also, area under coverage in Bihar is lagging behind the target. Area under pulses so far is 1.41 lakh acres against the target of 3.08 lakh acres, while oilseeds acreage is only 14,287 acres as compared to the target of 48,421 acres." Further, Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar had declared 26 of the 38 districts as natural calamity-hit and urged the Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to immediately rush a team of union ministers to assess the drought situation. The state government will also seek Rs 10,500 crore to deal with the situation. According to estimates, the drought has affected 1.26 crore families in the state.

161 districts face drought, but don't panic, consoles GoI

More than a quarter of India's districts are facing the threat of drought and the sowing of crops nationally is 20 per cent lower than in the previous year, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee. While many of these districts are not major crop producers, the Minister's statement underscored growing government concern that a weak monsoon could reduce output of crops like rice and dampen economic growth already hit by a global recession. After the driest June in 83 years, the annual rains have been more than a quarter below below normal this season. The Minister said he expected the economy to expand more than six per cent in 2009/10, in line with the central bank's outlook, although some private economists have warned that the risk is to the downside given the poor monsoon performance. "Monsoon situation is still erratic," Mukherjee told reporters. SC steps in as drought looms large, Govt jittery. "One hundred and sixty one districts have been declared drought prone. So far as sowing is concerned, 20 percent would be down," he said. India has 604 districts. He did not specify the drought-prone districts. The rain deficit since June 1 worsened to 28 per cent at the weekend, raising fears that the season may turn out to be as bad as 2004 when summer crop output fell 12 per cent after a drought. GDP fell to 7.5 per cent that fiscal year from 8.5 per cent in the previous year. The rains are vital for sugarcane, oilseeds and other crops, although the impact has been more severe for certain crops - particularly rice - than for many others. A feared shortfall in the sugar harvest has lifted global prices to near record highs. Mukherjee said the government was ready to manage a drought and a contingency plan was also in place. "Of course, always there is a contingency plan," the Minister said. "There is no point of pressing the panic button because you will go and start chanting drought, drought, drought and it will have an adverse impact," he said. Among measures the government could take to mitigate the situation are to raise imports and curtail exports. It has already stepped up efforts to buy more sugar and has banned wheat exports and restricted rice shipments. "Fortunately, Punjab and Haryana have extensively used the ground water. Bihar and certain other states, there are shortfalls," Mukherjee said. Mukherjee was also confident that targets for direct tax receipts for the 2009/10 fiscal year would be surpassed. Asia's third largest economy expanded 6.7 per cent in the last fiscal year, sharply lower than the nine per cent or more it grew in the previous three years, as the global economic crisis took a toll. "It's still a budding recovery so the deficient monsoon has overshadowed the recovery process," said Rupa Rege Nitsure, chief economist at Bank of Baroda in Mumbai. "Growth of around six per cent is feasible despite the fact that monsoon has so far been deficient, but it being above 6.5 per cent or in the range of 6.5 to 7 per cent looks impossible," she said. Last month, Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar told Parliament that four states - Manipur, Jharkahand, Assam and Uttar Pradesh - declared drought in certain pockets. Bihar also declared drought in 26 of 38 districts. Other than Uttar Pradesh, which accounts of almost half of the country's sugarcane production, other drought-hit states do not make a significant contribution to India's farm output.

Bihar Declares 26 of 38 Districts Drought-Hit

The Bihar Government on Monday declared 26 out of 38 districts in the state as drought-hit following deficient rainfall, and asked Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to sanction a special package to tackle the crisis. The state cabinet, presided over by Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, took a decision to this effect at a special meeting. After a thorough and intensive review of the situation in the state and reports received from district collectors, the cabinet declared 26 districts as "natural calamity-hit", Kumar said after the meeting. Kumar appealed to the Prime Minister to immediately send a team of Central ministers for an assessment of the situation and asked for a special financial package to the state.

On the opposition's demand for declaring the entire state drought-hit, the chief minister said the Cabinet discussed the matter and decided to include some more districts after a thorough review of the situation. The state government has declared Patna, Nalanda, Gaya, Buxar, Bhojpur, Rohtas, Kaimur, Siwan, Arwal, Nawada, Munger, Aurangabad, Sheikhpura, Lakhisarai, Jamui, Bhagalpur, Banka, Saran, Jehanabad, Muzaffapur, Sitamarhi, Begusarai, Madhepura, Kishanganj, Katihar and Vaishali as "calamity-hit". Bihar, between June 1 and August 6, received just 331.7 mm of rain against the normal 568.5 mm, a deficiency of 42 per cent. This resulted in 58 per cent decline in paddy transplantation which was targetted at 87,722,41 acres. Paddy could be planted in only 38,22,967 acres this year, official sources said. Pulse, another major crop in the state, could be planted in just 1,41,156 acres of land against a target of 3,08,881 acres and oilseeds in 14,287 acres against a target of 48,421 acres, the sources said. Deputy Chief Minister and Finance Minister S K Modi and Chief Secretary Anup Mukherjee were also present in the meeting.

Foodgrain harvest to dip 3.4%: FAO

World foodgrain production is VV likely to drop this year by 3.4 per cent but it would still be the second highest harvest on record, next only to the last year's record output. The lower production would, therefore, neither perceptibly impact the global grain stocks nor stem the downturn in the international prices of most cereals, barring rice. This has been revealed in the latest report on the global food outlook released by the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO). It has indicated that the export supplies are likely to remain at last year's level due to large carryover stocks and an anticipated fall in demand, especially for wheat and coarse cereals, because of lower use of grains as animal feed. The report points out that the international prices of most foodgrain have weakened considerably in the past few weeks, being pushed down by seasonal harvest pressure and reasonably good production prospects. Besides, factors like favourable production outlook in several countries, including India, Chine, north Africa and the CIS countries, and good rainfall in Australia have also continued to softening of global grain prices. The export price of uS wheat (No 2 hard red winter wheat) was $228 a tonne last week. This is about 33 per cent lower compare to last year and about 50 per cent below the peak touched in 2008. However, the international prices of rice have shown more resilience thanks to rather unnfavourable monsoon rains in India in the early phase of the season. The FAa report projects the total cereal output in 2009 at 2,208 million tonnes, down 3.4 per cent from 2,285 million tonnes in 2008. The reduction is mainly in the output of wheat (down 4 per cent) and coarse grains (down 4.3 per cent). The production of rice is forecast to increase, though the rice prices are also projected to remain film because of higher demand and lower export supplies. The wheat output in 2009 is projected at 655 million tonnes, down 4 per cent from 683 million tonnes bagged in 2008. The bulk of decrease is accounted for by lower harvests in parts of Europe and the USA where the farmers reduced area under the crop in view of anticipated fall in returns due to lower international prices. The coarse cereals output is put at 1,093 million tonnes, against the record 1,142 million tonnes last year, marking a drop of 4.3 per cent. Africa is the only region where output is foreseen to increase, and most of that reflects a recovery in North Africa after drought last year," the report states.