Bihar Chief Minister Jitan Ram Manjhi has narrated the turnaround story of Bihar at the London School of Economics as how the backward state achieved 10 per cent annual growth rate in the last seven years.
Speaking at a function last evening, the Chief Minister spoke in detail about the 'Bihar Model of Development' which has been appreciated within the country and outside.
He credited the success to his predecessor Nitish Kumar, according to a copy of the speech made available to media here by the Chief Minister's office here.
"This turnaround would have been impossible without the visionary leadership of ex-Chief Minister Nitish Kumar. As a chief minister, I am trying my best to take forward his legacy of Bihar's development to the next stage," he told the function organised by the International Growth Centre.
Manjhi attributed Bihar degeneration from the days of historical glory to tyranical permanent settlement regime under British rule and "unhelpful" policies of the central government since Independence besides lack of vision and commitment shown by successive state governments.
The Chief Minister also talked about the challenges and priority areas of the government in improving power situation, developing food processing industries and the need to generate more resources internally.
The audiences and panelists appreciated the positive work done in last eight years in Bihar, according to a statement from the Chief Minister's office.
They emphasised on urban reforms as key to the next stage of growth, it said.
