Compared to the 15-year rule of Lalloo Yadav in Bihar, any other would appear Golden. Nitish Kumar should thank Lalloo for his image as a 'Can Do' Chief Minister. It is this very Lalloo comparison that Nitish invokes on every occasion, justifiably so, and will go on to milk in the forthcoming Assembly election. On the other hand, it also tells a sad story of how politicians can dupe voters.

Prateek Anand has written a timely, well-researched article, examining the real facts of Bihar's development story. What he finds is something this writer has said in the past: Bihar's turnaround story is a media myth. The point is Millions still go out of Bihar to make a living. New roads, mobile towers, Chinese mobiles, bicycles for schoolgirls, expensive real estate (corrupt bureaucrats, politicians, pliant contractors are buying everything up) are shiny surfaces that hide all the muck. In the next 5 years, the same shiny roads will turn into crater beds, as they have in the neighboring Jharkhand.

Prateek's analysis reveals that even after 5 years' of Nitish-Raj, Bihar lags behind the other BIMARU states of Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan and even Madhya Pradesh on the inclusive development front. Other than the Indira Awas Yojana, Bihar lags behind in utilizing available funds for MNREGA, PMGSY (Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana), Drinking Water schemes (remember, Bihar has seen two continuous years of drought), as well as Accelerated Irrigation Benefit Program (AIBP), Jawaharlal Nehru Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM) and Accelerated Power Development and Reform Programme (APDRP).


Read the complete article here.

Related: Is Nitish Kumar Really The Development Man of Bihar?