While Bihar’s progress over the past 16 years cannot be ruled out – it has better road connectivity, round-the-clock power supply and a substantial increase in per capita electricity consumption and infrastructure – but it is mostly in the context of where the state was earlier. Till 2005.
Bihar will hope for a turnaround in its fortunes after a difficult 2021 when it had to struggle with the double whammy of second wave of Covid-19 pandemic with huge migration and annual scourge of floods, which took a heavy toll on a state that has perennially remained at the bottom of development ladder on virtually all important indices despite its consistent 10% growth story.
Though Bihar’s progress over the last 16 years cannot be dismissed — it has far better road connectivity, round-the-clock power supply and significantly higher per capita power consumption and infrastructure growth — but it is mostly in the context of where the state stood prior to 2005.
With his party JD(U) becoming a junior partner for the first time in the ruling alliance in Bihar, chief minister Nitish Kumar’s status has certainly taken a hit. Despite still heading the NDA government, Kumar is showing apparent discomfort, especially in the face of an increasingly assertive RJD combine as the Opposition and a strangely cold ally BJP. Kumar has once again begun raising the “special status” demand for the state, to which BJP appears cold this time, while RJD has been playing it up. In fact, RJD leader Manoj Jha even moved a suspension of business notice in the Rajya Sabha to discuss the issue.
Another thorny issue testing the alliance will be caste-based census. To further test the alliance will be the five Rajya Sabha vacancies — two each of BJP and JD-U and one of RJD — and 24 seats of the Legislative Council to be filled from the local bodies.
According to social analyst DM Diwakar, contrasting signals may be part of politics, but they don’t augur well for governance. “Bihar would hope for greater clarity in the new year. A large number of positions in the boards and corporations lying vacant also don’t send right signals,” he says.
“The alliance is strong and delivering. Partners may have their own issues, but there are no differences,” said BJP state president Dr Sanjay Jaiswal.
Liquor ban has been a major challenge for the government from the day it was imposed on April 5, 2016. The challenge has only grown over the years with continued smuggling of liquor and increased availability of narcotics substances despite prohibition being the prime agenda. The year 2021 saw opposition and the ruling alliance partners equally critical of it and demanding review. On December 28, Chief Justice of India NV Ramana waded in, calling the prohibition law an example of “lack of foresight” in drafting legislation, which leads to mounting court cases, which is a statistical fact.
“Prohibition in theory and liquor smuggling in practice to encourage a parallel economy cannot go together. The government must make a realistic assessment in the wake of CJI’s observation,” said RJD MP Manoj Jha.
While 2021 exposed Bihar’s health infrastructure, with even old medical college hospitals not having proper arrangement for oxygen supplies, 2022 begins with another scare and growing number of cases. How the government deals with the potential third wave will be keenly watched. Though Bihar has been doing well on vaccination front, rapid improvement in heath infrastructure that the government has claimed will be put to test. “The government is fully prepared for third wave, should it come. We are already taking precautionary measures,” said health minister Mangal Pandey.
Bihar did well in the school education sector in the beginning in improving access and virtually ending gender disparity with the much talked about cycle scheme for girls. School infrastructure also improved. The quality of education, however, has remained poor with lack of teachers in various subjects and erratic schooling. Poor intake in seriously understaffed and struggling higher education made it a vicious cycle that the state is finding hard to move out from, resulting in huge migration of students. Now Bihar has a number of premier national institutions of higher learning, but the state needs to have its own colleges and universities in order. At present, none is in the top 100 of the NIRF ranking.
The frequent row over corruption at the top in academic institutions has only made things worse. The year 2021 saw, for the first time, a vigilance raid on a serving vice chancellor and state education department staying away from Raj Bhawan function. Hopefully, higher education will turn a new leaf with both the Raj Bhawan and the government working together for a common cause. Also, huge vacancy of teachers and school heads will also be filled in 2022 and recruitment of assistant professors in colleges will pick up pace. “The appointment letters of elementary school teachers shall be issued on February 25, 2022 after proper verification of documents. Camps to be held in block and district headquarters,” said additional chief secretary (education) Sanjay Kumar.
The new year will see the setting up of three new universities in which the CM will be chancellor, contrary to the tradition of Governor as the ex official chancellor of state universities. The new institutions with CM as the chancellor are Bihar Health Sciences University, Bihar Sports University and Bihar Engineering University. All three may see appointment of vice chancellors soon. Earlier, engineering and medical institutions were part of the Aryabhatt Knowledge University, but in the changed set-up, with CM at the helm, one should hope for the better. Bihar has already been late in setting up engineering colleges.
Though the government has started quite a few, the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) has extended the ban on new engineering colleges till 2024 due to low enrolments, falling demand and quality concerns. Bihar will need to improve the existing ones. “The three new institutions will be functional in 2022,” said a senior education department official.
After a long wait, the Patna High Court got eight judges, while four were transferred to the state and one was transferred out. However, the court is still barely near the halfway mark of its sanctioned strength of 53 judges. Add to it the mounting load of cases due to prohibition and disruption due to pandemic and the scenario demands the HC to function in full strength. It was after a long wait that Patna HC got so many judges, as its strength at one point had dropped to one-third, and one would hope the same tempo of appointments to continue in the new year. “The year 2021 saw several judges being appointed and we hope more will come in 2022. Pending cases are a genuine concern,” said former additional solicitor general SD Sanjay.
Bihar has huge demographic dividend, but in the absence of quality education and employment opportunities, it threatens to become a demographic disaster. According to 2018 report of the sample registration system (SRS), the working age population (15-59 years) increased from 57.2% to 59.7% between 2013 and 2018, but due to lack of opportunities, the state continues to witness increased migration. Unemployment was a big poll issue in the 2020 Assembly elections and it will remain a big challenge for the state devoid of big industries and companies. The SRS report says Bihar is the youngest state with 57.2% population below 25 years of age. “Making the youth employable is the key to state’s fortunes. Else, it could turn out to be counter-productive,” said DM Diwakar, former director of AN Sinha Institute of Social Studies.