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CMs of UP and Bihar! Are You Listening?
By Indra
Feb. 25, 2008 |
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Media
organized many debates on its channels. People
in general were critical of Raj Thackeray and
also his cousin now. But many raised a question,
why should the CMs of the states not create jobs
for their men? With employment being acute in
all states, the people of Bihar and UP will no
more be welcome in the other states where they
used to migrate for livelihood.
I myself tried to look back and think over on
the subject and the efforts made by the
political leaders of the states. Except for
blaming the central government or opposition
parties, the people in power did only amass
wealth or did everything right or wrong to
please their sycophants party men or the
so-called vote bank. They completely neglected
to work out a strategy for creating jobs for
teeming millions of unemployed youths joining
the workforce every year.
It is surprising that a bigger percentage of the
young men and even girls from Bihar and UP are
manning even the tech industry in South. Last
year, three of the children - one girl and two
boys, of my relatives (naturally from Bihar)
graduated in engineering from three different
private colleges from West Bengal have got jobs
in South. Is it so difficult to create an
environment and provide infrastructure to have
the IT and ITeS set up units in Bihar? Did the
CMs make an effort and failed to attract the
industrialists? The ruling class in UP has
totally neglected eastern region. With IITs at
Kanpur, and Varanasi and other institutes, UP
could have created an IT sector in around
Kanpur, Lucknow and Varanasi. Thanks to the
proximity with New Delhi and other national
capital region townships, a number of IT
companies are located in Noida. I don’t know if
the CMs of the states, be it Kalyan, Mayawati or
Mulayam in UP, Lalu, Rabri, and even Nitish have
any knowledge and understanding about the sector
and its potential to create an employment base
for educated youths. Perhaps, they know only
about the ‘sarkari’ jobs of police, teachers and
clerks in government that can bulge their
coffers. Many a time, I feel like they must
learn about the IT’s role from their children
(at least Mulayam, Nitish and Lalu), if they
can.
Even with all the humiliations that the people
of the state are facing in Assam, Maharashtra
and may be soon everywhere in the country, they
will hardly wake up. I wish the CMs of Bihar and
UP could sit with some of the teachers of NIT,
Patna and IIT, Kanpur or some state conscious
intellectuals working in different states or
abroad, however not the sycophants to find some
solutions to the unemployment.
I appeal to the CMs of Bihar and UP to read the
lead article- ‘The Bhaiyya Effect’ written by
Vir Sanghvi in Hindustan Times Sunday, February
24. I quote few sentences for all who matter in
the state of Bihar and if they can listen:
Once, Bihar was India's best-administered state
(do not laugh: an international study came to
this conclusion in the 1950s); now, it is seen
as a wasteland. The net state domestic product
of Bihar was Rs 51,194 crore in 2004-05. In
contrast, the state domestic product of
Maharashtra was Rs 3,28,451 crore, over six
times the figure for Bihar. Even poor, backward
Orissa did better than Bihar at Rs 52,240 crore.
The contrast is more striking when you look at
per capita figures. In 1993-94, the per capita
domestic product of Bihar was Rs 3,037. Eleven
years later, in 2004-05, that figure had gone up
to Rs 5,772 which, when you adjust for
inflation, probably means that income hardly
went up at all, and may even have gone down.
Now, look at the figures for other states. In
1993-94, Maharashtra's per capita domestic
product was Rs 12,183 — already four times the
figure for Bihar. By 2004-05, it had gone up to
Rs 32,170, nearly six times the figure for
Bihar.
Uttar Pradesh has fared a little better. In
1993-94, its per capita income was Rs 5,066. In
2004-05, it went up to Rs 11,477 (largely on the
basis of Noida, but that's another story). This
makes it better off than Bihar but still worse
off than every other Indian state.
As far as the rest of India is concerned, Bihar
has become a wasteland run by mafia dons who are
pursued by Naxalites. The rule of law does not
exist, and politics is largely a question of
caste.
I request the CMs to work for providing skills
to every young men and creating employment
instead of putting forward the excuses. If Bihar
could have a Dalmianagar (almost ghost town
today), the second largest industrial township
to Jamshedpur in 50s and 60s, why can’t it
happen today? Hajipur, Barauni, Mokama, Barh,
Jamalpur, all can get on the industrial map of
Bihar. If Maharashtra can become a hub of sugar
industry, why can’t Bihar be one? With
co-generation, and ethanol, the sugar industry
can easily transform a major part of Bihar as
prosperous. If Jawahar Knowledge Centre in
Andhra Pradesh can bring a revolution in rural
area, why can’t Bihar emulate that? If Andhra
can have 200 professional colleges, why can’t
Bihar have it? Why can’t the engineer CM of
Bihar initiate an action plan for irrigation in
draught prone north Bihar instead of blaming his
predecessors? It will be prudent for Nitish to
cooperate with the central ministers to get NREG
and Bharat Nirman executed that will provide
employment to the people of Bihar.
It is a shame that the legislators wish to solve
the problem in Maharashtra by embarrassing and
humiliating Bihar's Maharashtrian Governor Gavai.
They thereby are only encouraging the mob for
taking the law in their own hands and create
what happened in Hajipur.
It is only the politicians of the state of UP
and Bihar who have failed its people. Let the
politicians of the state listen the warning in
time and change themselves.
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