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Achieving
sustainable and long term economic growth
through a eight step process.
0. God Governance: Institutionalization of
efficient & effective governance through
structural changes & induced autonomy in the
various establishments. Re-establishing
meritocracy and building the environment for
excellence in administration.
I can make out from the emerging pattern &
methods in the chief ministers initiative as
this to be already the case. Anyway, prime
responsibility for this lies in hand of state
government.
1. Increase Urbanization: Working to the plan
instead of stepping everywhere. State ought to
decide how much people it wants to be dependent
on rural economy and what % it would it like to
move to urban growth centre. We will have to
remember that our rural economy is a fine case
of underemployment and also incidences of hidden
unemployment are quite common. In my opinion
state need to achieve 60-40 ratio by 2015 to
optimize its developmental process. We need to
conceptualize and develop six or seven mega
cities of over 40 lac population in the state.
We will have to ensure planned development of
these cities; JNNURM should be taken optimum
advantage of in this process.
However, in building these mega cities state
will have to plan among other things as to what
will drive the economy of the cities. Cities
will have to be developed alongside the
industrial clusters, befitting their competitive
strength.
State will have to plan all these angles about
mega cities, central government need to put them
under JNNURM to support in developing the urban
amenities.
2. Revive Rural Economy: Rural economy needs to
be energized through cooperatives like COMFED in
the other segments of “Potentially Rural
Productivity” including in agro-processing, food
processing, and animal husbandry and so on, with
liberal dose of upstream corporate retailing
linkages involving Bharti, Reliance, Tata &
Birlas. State should take initiative to bring
home contract farming, contract food processing
/ animal products processing and contract agro
processing in association with these corporate
groups.
3. Build Financial Infrastructure: As far the
basic ingredients for economy goes state has
advantage of land ( raw material) and labor
(though skill enhancement is definitely needed)
but lacks in Capital, Management &
Entrepreneurs. It is not a hidden secret that
Bihar lacks in home grown Capital Market &
Financial Infrastructure. Market outside is
plagued by many stereotypes about the state
putting it at the disadvantage. Creation of
homegrown financial market is a pre-requisite
for development of the state. Ready access to
capital market, awareness & understanding of
capital market is very much adds in availing the
capital so badly needed for industrial
development.
Though an initiative has to be taken by state,
but only the central government will have to
take most of the actions here. Other places have
just benefited from policy of central
government, raj’s legacy and central largesse.
Some of the financial market Apex (Regulatory)
Bodies, and also a few PSU’s, need to be
headquartered in the state. May be state can ask
Pension Fund Regulatory Authority to be located
in State. Advent of the apex body itself will
make it mandatory for all the governed entities
to set up a shop in the state.
Building a culture of “Financial Excellence” is
simply an imperative.
4. Institutions as Growth Drivers: Setting up of
“Centre of Excellences” in Higher Education,
Specialized Education Centers (as under various
ministries at centre other than the ones under
HRD) Technical Education, Research, and
Vocational Institutes & Training Centers. This
institution acts as the nucleus for “Economic
Capability Building” and results in a definite
competitive advantage in knowledge economy.
If we go by what has happened elsewhere, these
“Center of Excellences” has been set up by
central government only. State has got a short
shrift in allocation of these assets. Regional
Interest active at central level did never
thought of building India. People at the helm of
affairs were busy building there own native
states. Bihar & UP lost out as they lulled
themselves in the belief of being one India.
Though state can go ahead and create these
institutions and it should be doing so, It
should also fight for its right till the skewed
situation in rectified in states favour. Under
the garb of military principle of strategic
depth, national asset can not be made repository
of southern region. Bureaucrats & Ministers from
heartland so get all those policies which
militates against these states shelved, be it
freight equalization, or the current policy of
taking infrastructure development to the
developed areas. Developed areas should sustain
themselves through user charges & private
investment. Public Investment should go to
underdeveloped region.
State can not afford to loose out its elite
through brain drain. Large Scale Migration
warrants charges of criminal negligence of
Eastern UP & Bihar. If central government does
not proceed to rectify the situation, it should
be prosecuted on this count.
5. Building Backbone Infrastructure: It is pity
that state is being accorded the lowest priority
under NHDP and also the GAIL Gas Grid has not
been extended to the state even after a lapse of
two decades, when it was brought to Jagdishpur
in UP.
It is de-facto heartland of the nation still the
infrastructure veins has always tried to
bypassed the state completely excepting only
where there is no alternative to passing through
it because of geo-location advantage of being at
the national cross road.
Inland Waterways, River Flow Control are other
area asking for attention and have a great
economic potential. Though center has initiated
dredging of Palk Straight under controversial
sethu-samundram project, it has not bothered to
develop the national waterways across Gnga and
its tributaries which can accrue immense benefit
to the heartland.
Obviously, a major role in infrastructure
development has to be played by centre. State
will have to ensure that it gets it dues. Of
course, in addition state will also have to play
its own role in infrastructure development.
6. Seeding the Industrial Growth: Pattern &
methods of Industrial Growth across country
indicates the role played by Central PSU’s all
over. Private sector has joined the bandwagon
latter on. State PSUs have hardly ever been
unable to provide this seeding effect anywhere.
Seeding a Central PSU is also required to
demonstrate suitability of
location/infrastructure for an industry.
Moreover many PSU’s has been able to create
multiplier effect on the local economy. Since
pvt sector is not going to be in any hurry to
help the state out of this morass of
underdevelopment central PSU need to step in to
seed the industrialization in selected places in
the state depending on the state governments
plan.
7. Creating a Bandwagon Effect through
Industrial Clusters: State and Central PSUs and
the willing Private Sector Majors can come
together to set up there units as part of an
Industrial Cluster so as to create the “Critical
Mass” for self propagation of industrialization
of the cluster. This will happen because setting
up of many other ancillaries, upstream and
downstream businesses and industries will become
viable once this critical mass is reached.
Setting up a wheel factory at one place,
ordnance factory at another place and locomotive
factory at a third place is not an ideal thing
to do as such. In this we have lost out the
advantage of creating the critical mass &
subsequent bandwagon. Else it would have
attracted toll manufactures, steel mills forging
units and likes (depending on commonality of
requirements) also in the vicinity.
State can think of dividing state in 8
Industrial Zones for its all round development.
Patna and around : Finance, Trade & Commerce,
Entertainment & Media, Tourism, Healthcare,
Consumer Durables, Consumer Non Durables, ICT
etc.
Muzaffarpur and around: Agro & Food Processing
and Allied Industry
Gaya and around: Tourism, Cement, Stone Slabs,
Prefab Structure, Power Plants other Mineral
Based Industry.
Barauni and around: PCPIR ( as planned by
central government) (petroleum, chemical,
petrochemical integrate complex including
upstream & downstream industry),
Bhagalpur and around: Textile, Handloom &
Handicraft, Gems & Jewelry, Furniture &
Artifacts
Katihar & around: Jute, Leather and allied
products, animal products, fisheries, poultry
and so on.
Darbhanga & around: Higher Education, (Armed
forces, Police, CPFs) Training & High End
Research Labs specially in biotechnology,
nanotechnology, communication technology and so
on.
Munger & around: Electrical & Mechanical
Hardware Industry, Heavy Industry and so on.
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Comments: |
Excellent analysis
It brings the strategic advantages
of the various regions of Bihar very
well. - Thakur Vikas Sinha, Powai,
Mumbai - Feb. 8, 2007
Wow! Great job Mishra Jee. You are a
GURU.
There are several growth factors you
have define here the way it should
be. I liked the way you have created
the industrial zones. That's the way
to 'Go'.
Although Mr. Nitish/Mr Modi and
their team might already have a good
number of smart planners and
administrators, still I hope they
read your project plan on PD. -
Naren Singh, India/USA - Feb. 8,
2007
The article written by Dr. Mishra
jee is well written . He deserves
appreciation for this.
In addition to all his points
following are my suggestions region
wise industry
A. Patna : IT and R&D Companies,
Dairy Technology Patna can be the
city of education and higher
learning along with center for R&D.
In Dairy Technology, Patna and
Muzaffarpur are the best. Patna
Dairy project and Muzaffarpur Dairy
Project are the only industries in
Bihar which has excellent track
record in terms of profits.
B. Tirhut Region:
1. Vaishali Region/Muzaffarpur
Region: Tourism and Manufacturing
Industries /Development of
Electronic city in Hajipur as it was
shifted from Hajipur. The area from
Patna to via Hajipur Muzaffarpur
will be good for the investment in
Education, Manufacturing industries
and food processing. In fruits:
Litchi, Banana, Mango export
industries should be established for
which both cities are famous.
2. Sitamarhi: Sitamarhi can be the
best destination for tourism. This
is the birth place of Hindu Goddess
Sita. This district is also good in
Sugar Industry (Riga Sugar Factory,
near Sitamarhi is well known). In
Litchi production, Sitamarhi is
second best after Muzaffarpur.
C. Mithila Region:
1. Darbhanga: Good for tourism too
(forts of Darbhanga Kingdom). This
region can be developed as good
place for floriculture and
horticulture. Pan, Makhana and
Machhali (fish) are three important
things for the people in Mithila.
Yes, Darbhanga can be city of
education.
2. Madhubani: Famous for Mithila
paintings in all over the world. It
needs to be spread to all villages
of Mithila and other districts of
Bihar as one of the industries.
Presently only few village women are
working.
3. Samastipur: Famous for Khaini (Tambaku)
These are some of the suggestions
for the government. - Bibhuti
Bikramaditya, Daejeon, S. Korea -
Feb. 8, 2007
Wow, kya article hai. Mishraji aap
ko to Planning Commission mein hona
chaahiye tha.
Seriously, if people who are doing
planning for development had this
kind of thought we would've done
better for sure. We all know that
Bihar as a State has lots of
untapped potential but it's never
been planned to tap those untapped
potentials.
The specialized industrial zones is
the way to go. This way we can
leverage on the strength of each
region in Bihar and make them self
sufficient and powerful. When this
happens I am sure it will stop the
labor migration upto a greater
extent. When (not if) that happens
the other states who call us BIMARU
will realize the importance of
Bihari work force. - Samir Kumar
Mishra, Brisbane, Australia - Feb.
8, 2007
What is most urgently required is to
reduction of rural population and
that can only be achieved by the
process of urbanization. In
comparison to Bihar’s population,
meager number of rural population
has migrated to different urban
centers in Bihar and in other
states. Lack of this process has led
to violence in rural areas over the
years due to continually decreasing
agriculture land. Fall out at Singur
and Nandigram in West Bengal (a
center for rural economy engine),
whatever the other reasons, is due
to late admittance to urbanization
process.
The real meaning of urbanization is
to rich or marginal farmers settling
down in cities. Their links to the
land must be severed and they should
become an integral part of urban
communities.
As wisely suggested by D N Mishra,
what we need now to identify
strategic urban centers. This will
allow entrepreneurial people with
relatively good educational
backgrounds to launch their own
businesses or become high-caliber
professionals in various sectors,
where the growing population will be
dependent upon its "hinterlands" to
provide it with food and its
product. This will certainly boost
economy of our agricultural society.
Eventually, there may emerge a large
number of prosperous small towns in
rural areas, which will demonstrate
the progress of Bihar's urbanization
process.
In today’s world, cities are the
virtual face of development. A
rational pattern exemplifying city
construction of different sizes
should be sought with the tag of
special economic zone. If not SEZ,
but a kind of SEZ is urgently needed
in Bihar that too in a phased
manner. - Dr. Sudhir Ranjan, USA
- Feb. 8, 2007
Mr D N Mishra deserves kudos from
all BIHARIS for giving an excellent
and comprehensive plan for
developing the state. However, it
will very much depend on the
government how fast they can act and
what projects are taken on priority.
It is necessary to take up at least
some areas on fast track which can
give some visible results quickly
and the wheel of backwardness starts
moving back. "The low lying fruits
should be plucked first".
I would like to add that
international standard roads
connecting major cities of state and
availability of power is of prime
importance. Apart from this in at
least two areas Bihar can make its
place on world map. One is tourism -
being the most important place for
all Buddhist countries. Japan is
already showing interest and
investing money. Bihar should
supplement it by providing other
infrastructure - like safety of
tourists, clean and good places to
stay and have food. Tourists
experience can be enhanced by
providing additional amusements like
developing banks of Ganges into good
sightseeing place.
Setting up world class health
facilities - especially for heart
disease, neurology, cancer treatment
and prevention, radiology upgrade,
mental disorder and rehabilitation
with facilities for stay of
patients' family members in nearby
places will prevent large number of
people from going to far off places
and spending a fortune. This will
also attract people from nearby
countries like Nepal, Bangladesh,
Bhutan etc to come to Bihar for
treatment. This may attract NRIs
also to visit home state and get
comparatively cheaper medical
treatment as it has been reported to
be happening in Gujarat. -
Mithilesh Kumar, Delmar, NY, USA -
Feb. 8, 2007
This is an excellent article on the
growth of Bihar. A lot of
congratulation to Mishraji for doing
such extensive research and hard
work. - Seema Jyotishi - Feb. 8,
2007
Really thoughtful and deep dug
analysis by Mishraji. I could not
comment much on the theoretical
facts elaborated by Mishraji. He has
really done a great work for ideal
solutions for the modernization and
economic strength.
But, the facts are far from reality.
I know that my comments would be
treated as negative attitude and
would be forced to a back seat but
bringing out the truth is as
important as digging the theoretical
facts.
1. Any development of Bihar should
be seen in national perspective.
After all, the short and long term
plans of center are going to decide
the fate of each and every part of
India. I do not see Bihar developing
its own economy going out of
national policies.
2. The blind liberal economic policy
adapted by the center has left
nothing to be done by the government
agencies. In every sector of life,
the private companies have been
invited to play their own games of
money-spinning. I do not think that
the MNCs coming in India are so
generous that these would develop
the non-profit fields like rural
economy, backward states etc. After
all, India still is 80% village and
state of the villages would require
huge non-refundable amount of money
and resources which is out of
capacity of an MNC or all MNCs.
3. The development plans are like
child birth which cause lot of pain
to the procurer. Whenever, anybody
would think about any development
plan, it would include replacing
current policies, structures,
trends, mentalities and attitudes
with the new ones. I have doubt
whether current political situation
would permit anyone, whosoever may
be, to start new plans. The latest
example is the master plan for
Delhi. After severe political
pressures, the master plan has
become miserable plan. The unplanned
(mis)management of population, land
and water has become so worse that
it is out of reach of current
law-makers, politicians, official
and people too.
4. The theories would be thrown to
air if an honest answer to the
following question is tried to find:
What would happen (no. of chain
events) if a hut comes in the middle
of a large piece of land which has
been acquired by the government for
erecting a mega housing colony? The
colony construction would bring
employment to 1000 poor people,
solve the space problem, develop the
neighbourhood economy etc. The hut
is to be removed!
Before answering, think about
Narmada Baandh Pariyojna (Enron got
bankrupted), Delhi Master Plan,
Patna Master Plan, Reliance Project
in UP, Singur and what not.
Moreover, Bihar has more political
potential than other states
(everybody is a neta).
5. Have a look at the entrance of
MNCs in retailing market. Big malls,
good quality items, universal
prices, clean crease staff, shining
covers, big lights etc. The
SABJIWAALA of our neighbourhood
would go back to his village only to
starve because we people are going
to a big mall to purchase
vegetables. That means (I know it
would smell dirty), the MNCs are now
planning to pick the last left 25
paise in the torn pockets of the
sabjiwallahs and send it back to
their own heaven.
If anyone can deny the above truths,
I am sure Bihar and India would
become the ideal place to live. -
Ravish Kumar (A Worried Bihari),
Hyderabad - Feb. 9, 2007
Everything is fine except THE TRIDEV:
Good road (as per dream project of
the former Prime Minister Shri
Atalji), Power (at least 12 hours
non-stop power supply to every nook
and corner of the state), and good
health services (for every human
beings and animals) at every
government health centers of the
State. Then, development comes and
asks (kneeling down):
"Mere Aaqa! Hum hazir hain! Kaya
hukum hai?" - Madani Mohiuddin
Ahmad, KSU, Riyadh , KSA - Feb. 10,
2007 |
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