THE GIST of Editorial for UPSC Exams : 04 June 2020 (Bihar needs a State-specific stimulus (The Hindu))

Bihar needs a State-specific stimulus (The Hindu)

Mains Paper 2:Governance
Prelims level: Rent-seeking tendency
Mains level: Limiting to welfare measures in Hindi heartland states in India

Context:

• The massive stimulus given to the economy in the wake of COVID-19 is largely a supply side management measure, expecting the outcome that growth will resurface.
• Even if it is real, and not a hollow promise, it may not create adequate demand, strengthening the economy.

Self Sufficiency vs Atmanirbharta:

• Nehru’s agenda was ................................................................................................

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Rent-seeking tendency:

• The ‘rent-seeking’ behaviour and it is not limited to Bihar and Jharkhand alone; it is widespread in other Hindi heartland States too.
• The‘rent-seeking’ behaviour is mainly limited to States where the East India Company had introduced the agrarian system of ‘permanent settlement’ (intermediaries between the state and the tenant), mainly in eastern India.
• These States have generally failed to register adequate development after Independence.
• In contrast, the States with ‘ryotwari’ agrarian system, where there were no intermediaries between the tenant and the state, mainly in southern and western India, have leapfrogged in the realm of economic development.
• The feudal grip was relatively weaker in those States, allowing for substantial social movement (for example, the anti-Brahmin movement) which acted as a lubricant to develop a law-enforcing civil society and sub-national identity.

Situation in other states:

• In Andhra Pradesh, the Kammas used .........................................................................................

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Development in ryotwari States:

• The ryotwari States contributed in their own manner, promoting development and creating their own organisational vision.
• Five Year Plan of 1925, crafted by M. Visvesvaraya, was patronised by the Wodeyar Dynasty of Mysore. Apart from creating a vision, the States also identified experts to guide their social agenda.
• The Wodeyar promoted M. Visvesvaraya, and Sayajirao Gaekwad III groomed B.R. Ambedkar to become his Finance Minister, by sending him to Columbia University for higher studies.
• Further, they also promoted financial institutions to ensure success for their projects, like Andhra Bank promoted by B.P. Sitaramayya, Bank of Baroda by Maharaja of Baroda, Syndicate Bank by T.M.A. Pai and others. Their organisational promoters were the regional chambers of commerce which powerfully articulated their class interests.
• Their lobby was so powerful that they had many Finance Ministers in the Union Cabinet in post-Independence India.

Poor governance in Bihar

• The eastern region of the country recorded poor governance. In spite of giving birth to the ‘Swadeshi’ movement, the civil society there was devoid of a vision or a development strategy.
• De-industrialisation by the East India Company had ruined the indigenous entrepreneurs in the region.
• Even when some people attempted entrepreneurship, they usually failed, because nearly all avenues of investment in the region had already been captured by the Britishers.
• In the post-Independence period, the policy of freight equalisation killed whatever possibility was there for industrial growth of this mineral resource-rich region.

Other problems:

• Bihar was lying in the backwaters of the Bengal Presidency during the colonial period.
• The canvas of social movement ..................................................................................

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Way forward:

• In Bihar, only those civil servants are referred with reverence, who have either accumulated massively or those who have been able to successfully co-opt as many members of their caste group or of their area into the bureaucracy.
• During the last one-and-a-half decade, efforts have been made to streamline the governance system in Bihar.
• This in itself is a gigantic task, and Bihar needs a massive State-specific financial and social stimulus to complete the task.

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Prelims Questions:

Q.1)With reference to the Rajiv Gandhi University of Health Sciences, consider the following statements:
1. It is the largest health sciences university in India.
2. It was set up in 1996 by the government of Karnataka for the regulation and promotion of higher education in health sciences throughout the state of Karnataka.

Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
(a) 1 only
(b) 2 only
(c) Both 1 and 2
(d) Neither 1 nor 2

Answer..........................

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Mains Questions:
Q.1)What are the causes behind the most Hindi heartland States are not likely to benefit from the announced welfare measures? Critically comment.