Montek praises Bihar's growth story

Planning Commission deputy chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia today appeared to give credit to the Nitish Kumar government for Bihar's high growth rate, saying the state had not depended on central resource but built on its own capabilities.

Planning Commission deputy chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia on Sunday appeared to give credit to the Nitish Kumar government for Bihar's high growth rate, saying the state had not depended on central resource but built on its own capabilities.

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He said while Bihar was among the 'BIMARU' states, it registered the highest growth in the 11th Five Year Plan among all states of the country.

"Government of India must be contributing much more resources to the poor states. And in case of Bihar we do have a special plan...when growth expanded from very negligible levels, it was not because of the resources, but because something done right in Bihar which built on Bihar's own capabilities," he said.

Ahluwalia, who has praised Bihar often in recent past, was speaking at the release of a book 'The New Bihar - rekindling governance and development' by Noble laureate Amartya Sen.

He quoted late Murasoli Maran who had said that these states are not backward, but mismanaged.

"In fact," Ahluwalia, who has contributed to the book, said "all BIMARU states were doing quite well (now)." The BIMARU states are Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, and Uttar Pradesh. BIMARU is an acronym formed from the first letters of the names of the states. It has a resemblance to a Hindi word "bimar" which means sick. This was used to describe the bad state of economy in these states.

President Pranab Mukherjee addressed the gathering after receiving a copy of the book. Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar could not attend the programme at the Rashtrapati Bhawan as he has suffered a toe fracture.

The JD(U), the ruling party in Bihar, was represented by its chief Sharad Yadav.