Will Bihar see more growth?

Although Bihar has seen improvements in infrastructure through welfare schemes of the Central and state governments, the state lags behind in socio-economic indicators such as education, employment, population control, and poverty reduction. Literacy, per capita income, and poverty rate are lower than the national average.
In Bihar, infrastructure like roads and electricity has improved due to the welfare schemes, financial allocations, and continuous focus of the Central Government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the State Government led by Chief Minister Nitish Kumar. However, the state still lags behind in education, employment, population control, and poverty reduction.
In terms of education, Bihar has a literacy rate of only 74.7%. The literacy rate at the national level is 80.9%. The rate of students who complete their school education and enter higher education is only 17.1%. At the national level, it is 28.4%. Similarly, the rate of dropouts from secondary schools is 25.9%, and 20.9% in higher and secondary schools.
While the average per capita income in India is Rs 1,88,892, Bihar’s per capita income is only Rs 60,337. According to NITI Aayog data, the poverty rate in Bihar is 33.8 percent. This is more than double the national poverty rate of 15 percent. While unemployment among youth between the ages of 15 and 29 is 14.6 percent nationally, it is 16.7 percent in Bihar.
Even when it comes to population control and safe motherhood, Bihar still fares poorly. Out of every 1,000 births, 23 children die. Similarly, 104 women out of every 100,000 pregnant women die during childbirth. The fertility rate, i.e. the average number of children a woman has in her lifetime, is 2.8 in Bihar. This is the highest in the country. The national fertility rate is 1.9.
Thus, Bihar remains the most backward state in India in terms of education, employment, population control, poverty reduction, etc. In the recently concluded Bihar elections, Bihar’s political parties talked about employment, industrial investment, and economic growth on an unprecedented scale.
In this situation, Nitish Kumar has taken oath as the Chief Minister of Bihar for the 10th time today. Will Bihar continue on the path of progress? We will have to wait and see!