“We will support whoever givesspecial status to Bihar” said Bihar’s C.M. Nitish Kumar immediately before the announcement of the recent Parliamentary Election Results. Well, how much his support is required is whole different issue at the moment. But special status to Bihar…is certainly an interesting topic for a debate. Bihar, when this name comes,then appears the image of a backward and under-developed state, with lots of corruption and crimes. Census of India reveals this fact as well; Bihar stays on the bottom in terms of literacy rate at just about 47% literate people.According to Crime Record Bureau of India, Bihar is on the second position in terms of crimes. Area wise Bihar is the 12th largest state of India having 3rd largest population among states of India, out of which 85% live in the rural countryside.

The state lies in the Gangetic basin.Climate of Bihar is an example of ideal tropical climate. Irrigated with giant rivers like Ganga, Kosi, Gandak and Son and having one of the most fertile soils, and being one of the major fresh water fish producers of India. Good connectivity by rail and road to other major cities and not to forget the great resource of man power that the state has. Now, it seems like a perfect recipefor the progress of a state. But, still it remains far behind…

If we look back at Indian history or particularly in Vedic &Post-Vedic period, we will find the province pretty opulent. Nalanda was a centre of learning established by the 5th century BCin Bihar only. Ancient Bihar, known as Magadha, was a center of power, learning and culture in ancient India. From Magadha arose India's first greatest empire, the Maurya Empire. Bihar is considered the cradle for Buddhism as well.

Despite all that, one cannot rely on a sound history, without having a proper present. Bihar lies in the chart of India’s poorest states. While we talk about inflation and price-rise, the average income of a person belonging to rural Bihar stays under Rs. 20 per day.Here, I think that inflation can hardly play a crucial role to make the problem severe. In Bihar 43% population stays below poverty line. And surprisingly in this great country, as per the Government of India, poverty line for urban areas is Rs. 296 per month and for rural areas Rs. 276 per month, i.e. people in India who earn less than Rs. 10 per day are called poor. One can imagine that what an individual can do in that sum of money.

Apart from poverty, Bihar is a victim of poor planning and corrupt administration. It is said that Bihar plays a vital role in producing IIT Engineers, doctors and IAS Officers, but the question to be asked is that how many of them stay in the state after getting these designations.

Bihar is affected with natural disasters… floods. Because of floods more than one million people are badly affected almost every year. Last year only, breaking all its limits Kosi invaded many districts and cities, taking away whatever dared to come in its path of destruction. Along with its limits, Kosi broke several records of destruction, displacement and loss. While working in Bihar, for the flood victims, a new term was heard by us, ‘The Disaster Tourism’. When we tried to know about it, a surprising fact was in front of us. Some of the localities told us that Bihar’s economy or some of its part relies on relief material and donations which are received at the time of some disaster. Keeping it in mind, no permanent solutions are tried to be implemented as it will lead to the loss of a huge amount of cash and kind.

On the other hand, 33% Area of the State receives less than 750 mm rain which has also put Bihar into the Category of chronic drought prone States of India. Bihar has been experiencing drought in every alternate year. The question still remains that should Bihar get the status of a ‘Special State’ or there is a need of renovation and reconstruction of the state polices. Some other related questions are that, why majority of Biharis want to leave its motherland and migrate to other states and outside India.Why the word ‘Bihari’ is considered as an abusive one! When will the things change for the state? Some things always end with a question mark….

Mr.Nitish Kumar, the current Chief Minister of Bihar, it is said, that he is working in a progressive manner and change is visible to a certain extent. Let’s see that how much weeds can he remove from the land of Bihar which grew in the Lalu-Rabri term.