As TN Ninan analyses in his “Why Bihar is poor” (January 16), it is interesting to note that Bihar has been a victim of Central government’s apathy, in spite of having, in Lalu Prasad, a staunch spokesperson from the state for several years. The problem has been aggravated by a self-serving state leadership; people of Bihar should share the blame for electing such corrupt, law-breaking and incapable candidates as their representatives until recently. While the minority community was coaxed into believing that communal harmony was more important than consistent poverty, others remained passive to unashamed nepotism. No one saw, till the last election, any paradox in Lalu, his wife, brothers-in-law and children getting the best of life even as the people sank to depths of misery.
This is not to undermine the value of human capital in Bihar. People from Bihar are showing their genius outside the state in management institutes, bureaucracy, business organisations, science and art. Nitish Kumar should find ways of preventing flight of such talent and provide them with opportunity to accelerate the economic growth.
Y G Chouksey, Pune
