The New Bihar: Rekindling Governance and Development

Author :	NK Singh & Nicholas Stern
Publisher :	Harper Collins

(From left) Lord Nicholas Stern, NK Singh, Suhel Seth, British minister Danny Alexander and India’s high commissioner Ranjan Mathai at a panel discussion on the development model of Bihar held at the Old Theatre Hall of London School of Economics on Monday evening. The discussion — centred on the book edited by Stern and Singh, The New Bihar: Rekindling Governance and Development — covered a wide gambit of development issues. Moderated by Singh, the panellists deliberated upon four points — the Bihar model of growth, central support to minimise difference between the national and state average, overall development outcome with combination of good governance opportunity with resources, and innovative methods to secure life and property. Alexander recounted with fervour and admiration his recent experience in Bihar. He mentioned that he was pleasantly surprised how effectively and efficiently the Right to Services Act had worked even in non-urban areas in the 

state. He had become an admirer of the recent development strategy of the state and would like to remain fully engaged and hopes to return to Bihar soon. Telegraph picture

During the 1990s, Bihars development failed to benefit from the acceleration in Indias economic growth and, in fact, slowed compared to the 1980s, principally because of a steep decline in the already low standards of governance Bihars fortunes of governance and economic performance changed dramatically after November 2005, when Nitish Kumar government came to power. Within a short time, major initiatives were launched in improving governance, infrastructure, education especially primary and for girl children, health and agriculture. Significant improvements in law and order presumably induced and allowed a resurgence of economic activity in construction, trade and hotels/restaurants and this has boosted the states growth prospects. The road ahead is long and arduous. But the last six years have shown that rapid economic development is possible in Bihar. To maintain the momentum of growth, the recent improvements in governance have to be consolidated and strengthened. Eminent economists like Amartya Sen, Kaushik Basu, Montek Singh Ahluwalia, Meghnad Desai, Shankar Acharya, Arvind Virmanai, Govind Rao, Sudipto Mundle, Y.V. Reddy, Arvind Panagariya, M.S, Swaminathan and Yogender Alagh among others analyse the remarkable turnaround witnessed by Bihar. Tarun Das, Deepak Parekh, Lord Billimoria, K.V. Kamath and Isher Judge Ahluwalia speak of the opportunities and challenges for the state. This is a must read for anyone interested in governance and development and about the Bihar Model of Development which can be replicated in other states of India.