The political demand for a special status for Bihar seems to have much ground I surprisingly found out but what would happen if all other states start demanding for special status of their own? Here are some of the facts Bihar is more poorer than most of the countries of Africa, excluding two countries such as Dem. Republic of Congo and Central African Republic which ofcourse are more of failed states than states per se. Standing at a poverty rates of 54.4 % its around twice the national poverty percentage of 37 % . * Bihar has one of the lowest HDI (21 out of 23) as per the India Human development Report * Highly vulnerable to natural disasters: 73% of the geographical area prone to floods. 28 out of 38 districts are in earthquake zone five and four * One of the lowest average sizes of land holding in the country at 0.58% * One of the highest rates of child malnutrition in the country with 54.9% of the children underweight * The NSSO Consumption Expenditure Survey (2004-5) has showed that Bihar has the lowest level of per-capita expenditure in the country. * In addition, Bihar’s performance on other human development indicators such as health, education and sanitation is also below the national average. For example, Bihar has the country’s lowest literacy rates at 63.82 percent. Youth illiteracy is a serious concern as 50 percent of the population over 15 years of age is illiterate * In terms of infrastructure, the state fares poorly. Road density at 36.75 km per 100,000 persons is the lowest in the country. * The annual per capita consumption of power is only 76 units as against the national average of 612 units per year * Lowest per-capita income of INR 14,654 at current prices and INR 11,558 at 2004-5 prices * Highest urban poverty ratio and second highest rural poverty ratio (Rural 55.7%, Urban 43.7%) * One of the lowest rates of urbanization, only 11% of the state’s population lives in urban areas * One of the highest rates of out-migration to other states- 9.2% of rural male and 4.4% of urban male) as per the 64th round of NSS * Average agricultural productivity below the national average in key cereal crops in the state- For Rice – Bihar- 1,237 and National- 2,202; For Wheat – Bihar- 2,058 and National- 2,802 (yield in kg hectare)
Posted on: Sat, 08 Jun 2013 06:12:06 +0000
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