The sense of a deep-going institutional crisis in Bihar, which negatively impacts every sector of life, is overwhelming. Yet, no one is sure this will be an issue in the forthcoming Assembly election. The apparent reason is people have lost sight of what institutions mean.
By daylight, the towns and cities of Bihar resemble a vast slum, with broken roads, spewing sewers, dirty and run-down public spaces and shabby shops. Deep poverty is a self-evident reality, which clearly no one has attempted to address for years, if not decades. There appears to be neither any government nor local self-government in sight.
When it is night, the state reposes in the depths of darkness. The exception is Patna where one can see improved roads, better-looking markets and residential buildings - and yes, some glitter produced by electricity.
The city looks smarter than before. But not the institutions that once brought it lustre. The university section, which houses the once-famous Patna College, Science College, and the Medical College, looks ravaged by time, and there is no hint of relief in sight. Clusters of houses of the poor can be found right inside educational campuses (a scene I also saw recently at the once prestigious Darbhanga Medical College).
As for education, half the posts of lecturers in the state have been lying vacant for years.
According to the 2001 census, the extent of urbanisation in Bihar is only 10.5 per cent, suggesting that nearly 90 per cent of the population - and the economy - is rural. This is a site of grinding poverty, however, which Bihar's breathtaking natural beauty cannot hide.
Agriculture growth has been negative for three consecutive years, touching minus 12 per cent one year. Yet, the state government orchestrated the hoax that the annual average rate of growth for 2004-05 to 2008-09 was 11.03 per cent, the highest in the country after Gujarat's 11.05 per cent.
According to Prof. N. K. Chaudhri, a former head of economics at Patna University and a well-regarded social scientist, the government arbitrarily corrected the figure of minus 6 per cent agriculture growth for 2008-09 to plus 13 per cent, a cool rise of 20 per cent for the year, offering no explanation.
This was, incidentally, the year of unprecedented floods and destruction in the North Bihar plains (the maha-pralaya, according to the local people).
According to Prof. Chaudhri, the state has no infrastructure development corporation, and the state finance commission has not been revived. Small and medium enterprises - known for their employment potential - are a shambles. K.P.S. Keshri, a former president of Bihar Industries Association, says officially there are 56,000 industrial units in the state, but only 5,000 have taken power lines. Of these, no more than two thousand have opted for a load of 100 KVA. These are mainly hotels, cold storages and some government units.
According to Mr Keshri, the power crisis is crippling. The state produces not more than 100 MW. Of the two thermal generating stations, Barauni suffers from obsolescence and Kanti (in Muzaffarpur) has not gone on stream yet. The purchase from the national grid is between 800 and 1200 MW. Of this, 400 MW, or 40 per cent, go to maintain just one city-the state capital. In the last five years, the investment from outside the state cannot be more than `100-`200 crores, if mobile phone towers are not counted.
Whether we look at agriculture, industry, power-generation or employment, the state of affairs in Bihar speaks of collapse. The infamous treasury scam - in which money was taken out of the exchequer over the years but has not been accounted for - runs up to about `5,000 crores, nearly six times as bad as the "fodder scam" of the Lalu era. The scandal is but a symptom of a wider institutional crisis, and the CAG and the high court have had a lot to say about it.
The chief minister has all but stopped his ministers from taking decisions and has accumulated all power unto himself, say bureaucrats, businessmen and members of civil society, suggesting some sort of benign autocracy at work. Mr Nitish Kumar is not thought to be venal personally, but is said to be surrounded by influential civil servants whose lack of probity and propriety is whispered about. Subordinate bureaucracy in rural areas are thought to be immersed in corruption. Every village mukhiya is said to have two Boleros standing outside his door, besides the cattle.
Tomorrow: Caste or beyond?