Bihar is a rich state where poor people live. Very few regions in the world are as endowed with the bounties of nature as Bihar is - there is the river Ganga with its long stretch, large patches of fertile land, varieties of fruit orchards - lichees and mangoes being the prime ones, mega tonnes of coal, iron, copper, manganese etc. and a plenty of human resources. Then why is that our Bihar today is considered an anachronism in our modern society and has come to be known as a perfect antithesis of development , good governance and a thriving and peaceful community of people.

The plight of Bihar is such that the name now only evokes sarcasm and everything boorish and obnoxious. The word Bihar has become a national and may be an international joke so much so that when Rajat Sharma questioned Atal Bihari Vajpayee in a Zee TV programme "Aap Ki Adalat" a few years ago that his name carried an intrinsic contradiction of being both Atal (steadfast) and Bihari, our respected PM, too, did not hesitate in joining the fun which the house seemed to regale into.

In my opinion, two factors immensely add to Bihar's current social and economic backwardness - disunity among its people and the continued indifference by the successive governments at the center in the last 2-3 decades. Both these factors abet each other. The masses are divided on caste lines and obviously cannot contribute to the development of the state. The peculiar pattern of caste politics and vote banks has given rise to a situation that politics does not attract persons of the highest intellect and morality. The result is that the persons who constitute the assembly are either incapable to serve their constituencies or are frustrated by the rival elements whose only business is to create roadblocks for their opponents.

If Bihar has to surge ahead and improve its per capita income, it must first educate its people to rise above the considerations of caste, creed and religion. It is the duty of the Government, the NGOs, the social activists, the non-resident Biharis and the right thinking citizens to declare a war against casteism, nepotism and corruption. We must also do something concrete to wipe out the menace of dowry which encourages people to earn unethically and which , in my opinion, is a chief cause of our regression. And I fully agree with Mr. Jha's valuable remarks that we must ask center to open reputed institutions like IITs and IIMs in north Bihar which has been systematically allowed to plunge into an area of darkness. One does not recall one single major public sector unit or a national institution coming up in north Bihar in the last few decades. The center has also miserably failed to implement any major project to curb the menace of floods which makes Bihar poorer by every passing year. It amazes me no end to think that why in the last 40-50 years, no planner has ever thought of simple things like setting up a mega industry based on fruit canning considering the vast amount of lychees and mangoes that is grown in north Bihar. This industry, by itself, which has a very good export potential, can usher a sort of green revolution in Bihar.

Center's policy of freight equalization was a death-knell for mineral based industries in south Bihar and center must own up the responsibility and make concerted efforts to undo the damages. It is also said that the royalties on coal, iron ore etc. have not been increased significantly in the past decades and Bihar has thus lost valuable revenues, which could have been used for the developmental work in the poor regions. These are examples of gross injustice to the poor people of Bihar who are now considered a national shame .