I'm a south indian and have stayed all my life in north india.i consider myself more of an indian than a southie or a northie.
im a telugu by origin and i usually adopt the same practise of calling every north indian a bihari when im called a madrasi.it really works.
yeah i agree with Mr.Srinivasan's comments about the short comings of the south indian states.
But i consider the south indian progress as a lesson to be learnt by the other northie states.Maybe its time they took a break from cracking those dumb jokes on southies and stand up and take a note.
The plains of the Ganga is very rich. Lot of water, lot of food, lot of people and so lot of problems. Bihar and UP should implement the river linking project immediatley so that their problems get distributed.
Consider the disparities in development in different parts of the country. It is understandable that there will be some, based on the enthusiasm and drive behind the individual States efforts. But the rather significant differences that exist cannot be ignored. Granted, varying politics and social structures in different regions of the country seriously influence the pace or manner of social and economic development. It seems to me that the grand leap forward to full democracy in India compelled an immediate resolution of problems of social inequality, even more than the improvement of economic conditions. Most of the elected representatives felt comfortable championing local, communal, caste, language, and other such issues in preference to developing the expertise to increase the Gross National Product. It is obvious that the communal and other social dynamics in Bihar and some other States are more serious than those in the South.
If the above theory has any validity, efforts should be made to divert some of the energies of the elected representatives away from social issues and more toward economic development. This kind of re-orientation can be effectively provided by the Chambers of Commerce.
What makes the author bullish on Bihar? Does he see any promising signs in the political or business scene to make him optimistic? Is it just that the only way from now is upward? The basic elements for a vibrant economy are there. Yet, there appears to be a total lack of energy to move the resources to create or generate something positive. Where is the outrage?
Even in the ascendant South, the progress is uneven within the States. That is not encouraging either. The disparities will only generate frictions between communities. Moreover, concentrated development in urban areas is certain to accentuate and multiply social problems.
One would think that every State government has developed a vision statement defining the short and long term goals for the State and its different regions. The country is so far into its development phase that it is inconceivable that a State would not have such goals. It is not clever to be going from one annual budget to the next without setting sights for the long term. It should be responsibility of the elected representatives to demand it. Should not the Chambers of Commerce be more involved in the process?
That was a very positive and nice article, Sir. I so much hope that BIHAR prospers. BIHAR should become one of the top states not only in India but in the whole world. This is very essential, not only for Biharis but for every Indian. Why? Read on- I am not a Bihari, I am a Maharashtrian and the constant flow of Biharis, Gujratis and other north/ south Indians in Mumbai- Pune and other cities of Maharashtra has totally threatened the law and order situation, job situation, infrastructure and culture of Maharashtra. The state's population is increasing rapidly, and so is the dirtyness and crime- all thanks to these people from other states who arrive in Maharashtra though no maharashtrian wants them to enter maharashtra in such large numbers.
Though the constitution allows Indians to go and settle in any state, people should try to improve their own states, instead of forcing themselves on poor maharashtrians. I would really like it if Biharis , Gujratis and other north Indians would stop being selfish, go back to their own states and stay there forever.
RE:I hope your words come true!!!
by Giri Girishankar on Nov 11, 2003 12:21 AM
Ms. Priyanka, your point is well taken. Lopsided development of certain cities and urban areas in the country, or for that matter within a state is bound to make worse the existing social ills and create new ones. It, also, is bound to aggravate the pressure on the public services available in that area.
Politicians, administrators, and business persons of a state should get together and develop a vision statement for the state and use that as its basis for distributed development of the state. It is high time for people and politicians, especially in certain states, to divert their energies from communal issues to economic development. Communal issues do not stand a chance of resolution until the economic well-being of the people all over the state is ensured by concerted action.
State Governments in conjunction with the Central Govt. can develop a suite of incentives to locate industries and businesses in their cities and towns.
To Rajeev Sreenivasan, Your forecast that in the next 20 years Bihar will be a success story doesn't seem to have been based on any signs of improvement there as seen from your statement, "Nothing in particular is happening now". You have based it on the following arguments : 1. Bihar has a glorious past and is a resource-rich state. 2. It is in the nature of things that there will be ups and downs and Bihar has reached its nadir and couldn't possibly decline further (and so it can move only upwards). 3. South also has downsides like Bihar; still it is progressing. Then why can't Bihar? As regards point 1, Bihar is also rich in human resource reluctant to develop. The tendency to maintain lower order is much stronger than willingness to change for the betterment. The soundness of the points 2 and 3 above is questionable. In general your bright future forecast for Bihar isn't much different from that of a fortune teller telling his client, "Just wait (and suffer hardships) for six months more; thereafter you will flourish".
