INDIA 2050: THE BIHAR CHAPTER
Author name:- Rishi Menon
“Politicians are the same all over. They promise to build a bridge where there is no river” – Nikita Khrushchev
A state with the population of approximately 13 crores has been deceived by hollow promises from the politicians denying them their share of urbanization, education, healthcare and growth. This is Bihar, the land of rich cultural heritage, the land where the world looked upon, now defiled by those who were supposed to contribute to its prosperity.
The land which was once considered holy was disrupted by constant bloodshed due to the never ending communal riots. Between the clashes of communities lie a small dream, to soar into the sky, to ascend till the sun and shine brighter than it. The dream was to break the shackles of the vicious circle of becoming a bangle maker, as was the family tradition, it was to attain freedom. The brutalities of a single communal riot, witnessed from a small window changed the world of a young man. It shattered all his dreams and held him back because he then knew that nothing could ever change about his condition. The atrocities forced him to believe that this was the fate of his family and their generations to come. On a very fine day, he caught a glimpse of hope. The 14th Prime minister of India, Narendra Modi had announced his vision for India 2050, aiming to develop, empower and enrich the lives of the citizenry of India. He aimed to protect these small dreams and to nurture them into wildfires. The young man rejoiced because he had seen hope, something uncommon to those in the state of Bihar. A single beam of light shone brighter in his mind than a whole sea of dark clouds, and that made him think about the problems as they were.
The young man had seen the role that the community of a person plays in their life. The leader of the minority may make the best manifesto, be the best leader, but the election will always be won by the majority community, with a leader that favours the majority. This mentality of favoring one community over all the others then leads to multiple other challenges in governance. A state with 45,000 villages (2011 census), each village having different dialects, traditions and their own unique history thus, when one is favoured over the others, it leads to the minorities being suppressed, leading to incidents like communal riots. This mentality stays rigid over the generations because that is being taught to the youngsters. Political parties using people's emotions and sentiments to their advantage during elections has been one of the biggest contributing factors in the downfall of Bihar.
Another challenge along the way is the corruption in the state. It has reached new peaks as corruption has now become their second nature. From politicians to policemen, from the most recent case of the DTO of Nalanda to the D.S.P. of NIA, this disease of corruption has spread like wildfire. This is a problem that must be tackled from the grassroot, for both the parties included in this process of giving and accepting bribes, must be punished. Bribes have now become a way of expediting any process involving government offices. A friend of mine once told me “I can leak the paper of any government exam of Bihar half an hour before the paper. If I can do this then imagine what a person sitting behind the desk can do!”. This is the situation of Bihar; This is the level of corruption that has engulfed this state. This is the reason, the skilled, creamy layer always prefers to stay out of Bihar. Many of the IAS officers are from Bihar, but none of them stay there, that is because they know the condition of their state.
Most of these occur due to one very common, simple reason, lack of education. Education shapes a person by expanding their horizons, making them realize the big world that lies outside their bubble. When this realization strikes, the person tries to escape the shackles of the vicious cycle that they have been in since the beginning, questioning everything that comes their way. This is what is required for reforms to occur, questions must be asked. As Peter Abelard once said, “By doubting we are led to question; by questioning, we arrive at the truth.”
Another major reason is the lack of a proper leader in the state. This state has encountered a chief minister like Lalu Yadav who ran many scams such as the fodder scam of approximately 3000 Crores, by deceiving the common public. These people target the funds allocated by the central government for development and then through their elaborate networks they distribute the money amongst the whole network. From the peon to the police, all these government servants are involved in these large scams and its secrecy thus remains, until somebody takes action.
The problems in the state piled up to give rise to an organization revolting against the government, violently. They called themselves baaghi whilst the government considered them outlaws and named them the Naxals. Primarily, the Naxals were dedicated towards their goal, of seeking the government’s attention. Over the time, it became just another business expanding to the whole of Bihar. This resulted in the circulation of black money in the market which caused an economic imbalance. This also increases the cases of money laundering and counterfeiting, which in turn can collapse the whole economy. This in turn decreases the purchasing power of the general public which in turn increases poverty, forcing more people to enter a vicious cycle of performing menial jobs. This hinders the overall development of the state.
Bihar’s biggest problems have escalated to a very huge extent. The troublemakers have established huge networks, thus increasing our difficulties in tackling this problem. Thus, each of these must be tackled from the grassroots level. The mentality of people must change, and education is the only way forward. This develops the habit of asking questions. This and only this can change people’s mentality. When people start raising questions, that is what can shake rigid thoughts. It develops a broad mindset which unlocks a wide range of possibilities amongst youth.
The state of Bihar is filled with lakhs of small dreams, all looking forward to breaking the shackles of the vicious cycle. To them, every glimmer of hope, every beam of light shines brighter than the sun. To them, a single chance to escape would suffice, a single chance towards a bright future would change the lives of thousands who will be inspired from their stories. Like the story of IPS officer Manoj Kumar Sharma, the son of an honest government official, from the infamous Chambal, from a family that strived for 3 meals a day and how he struggled to break the shackles he was bound to and be the beam of light in the life of thousands.
The problems are huge and resolving them will be a long and arduous journey, but the only way is to move forward. The people must ask questions of the ill-governance, strive for answers and that will pave the way to the Bihar, that the great emperor Ashoka will be proud of.