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Education, Employment, and a Safe Environment
By Vishal Sinha
June 27, 2008 |
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One
of the major reasons for the migration of people
from Bihar has been education. Gradually people
came to realise that the colleges in Bihar were
losing their sheen in terms of quality and also
the courses being offered did not keep up with
the changing demands of society. More and more
people started to go out of the state to study.
Not just specialised subjects like Engineering
or Medicine or Sciences, but also in the area of
arts. The value of a graduate from a university
in Bihar was deemed to be lower than that from
many other states. Some of this was of our own
making. Like strikes by faculty and staff at
random times. Strikes by students against all
sorts of atrocities perceived by them. Gradually
universities in Bihar lost their standing in the
country. Those who did graduate found that not
much was available for employment. You had
choices like
a) becoming and entrepreneur (very high risk)
b) get a job in the private sector - not many
opportunities
c) get a job in the government - not attractive
enough
In any vibrant economy, it is private enterprise
which creates employment for the majority of the
population. Any economy which does not, is dying
a slow death. Economy based around public
spending will gradually die itself out. However,
in Bihar the reverse had become true from the
late 80s till about now. Most jobs were in
government aided organisations. The problem with
government aided organisations is that there is
no incentive to improve. Hence the activity of
the organisation is very ineffective.
To go back to the main issue being discussed
here, the students who went our of Bihar to
study very quickly identified that there was not
much opportunity in the state for them. So they
stayed where they were or moved on to other
cities for employment. The few who came back
could not do much, because of the reasons shown
above. Gradually the state went into a negative
spiral with the brighter or the opportunists
moved on from the state to look for greener
pastures. The people who were left behind did
not have the wherewithal to control the spiral.
And the government did not have the will.
Now we have had a new government for sometime in
the state. But we are yet to see a revival of
private enterprise. Probably that is because of
the nature of politics. People have not yet
gained confidence that Mr. N Kumar's government
will last a long time or will be in power after
the next elections. If Mr. L P Yadav comes back
to power, people believe that the situation will
go back to what it was. So there is a distinct
unwillingness for any serious investment. People
are waiting and watching. And Bihar is losing
out on account of this.
The state of negative spiral we were in can be
very easily changed into a state of positive
spiral. Safe law and order situation will lead
to more local investment by private individuals.
More jobs will be created within the state. All
the students who went out of the state for
employment would stay back and be employed here.
The quality of workers would improve. The
students would perceive economic growth within
the state and stay here to study rather than
travel to other states for their education.
The core of this argument is that a safe and
secure environment is the only time when the
economy in a region or area can grow
holistically. True, when crime is bad, and
security not guaranteed, some other industries
grow strong - like security agencies /
kidnapping / etc. But these enterprises are not
long lasting and not self sustaining. A safe and
just environment is the order of the day and the
government’s prime duty is to provide this. Not
just for it to look good on paper but to kick
start the economy.
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Comments: |
Dear
Mr. Sinha,
You have brought out a very good
point. Nitish Government is going to
complete three years in a couple of
months from now. If we analyze the
progress on education front, I would
say the govt. is taking steps to
bring in IIT, BIT, Chanakya
Management School etc.. There are
plans to open new Engg. Colleges in
towns like Begusarai. But the
question still remains: What after
completing the education? Can we
retain these graduates in Bihar?
The employment scenario is still
very bad due to lack of
participation from private
enterprises in the state. There were
some hopes with visits of people
like Mukesh Ambani, Anand Mahindra
and Ratan Tata. But very little
progress is visible on the ground.
We need some concrete steps to
realize that dream. State needs to
invest heavily in infrastructure,
health and education sector. This is
not possible without private
participation. - Atul Kumar Singh -
July 1, 2008 |
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Discussion on this topic is now
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