Some Indian states were formed on 1st October, 1953 as Andhra Pradesh (AP) due to language differences. While others were created for some socio-political reasons, such as Chhattisgarh from the central land mass of Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh to Uttarakhand and Jharkhand from its mother state Bihar. Here we discuss about, what effect people of Jharkhand feel on the division of Jharkhand. Our Indian Constitution being neutral allows for the formation of a new state, Article 3 states clear vision for the uplift of the preamble and prosperous development of the Indian Territory. The formation of a new state comes with various challenges and to counter them, thus the decision of separation should not be based solely on emotions, but a deed to inform the ignored masses.
The history of separation of Bihar has always been pretty dynamic as the baby state crawled,walked and stood up strong . Be it the growth, the development, the employment factor or even the literacy rate; Each factor has been surplus as compared to its mother state Bihar.
Separation of Jharkhand and Bihar
Bihar was internally divided as North and South Bihar respectively. But political party alliances with majority of the tribal revolted against the ignorance of the tribal community of south Bihar. JMM was the political party in support of the separation. Sibu Soren was the chief leader of JMM in the 1990s. Mukti Morcha mobilize and crowd in support of formation of Jharkhand. On 15 November 2000, President K. Narayanan signed the Bihar Reorganization Bill and became the 28th state of India.
The eastern state of Jharkhand is a contradiction, with exalted hills, vegetation, splendid valleys and a diverse tribal culture. There are so many famous cities in Jharkhand like Jamshedpur, Ranchi, Bokaro (famous for Steel plant) and so on. It endowed with abundant rainfall and fertile soil as well as natural resources such as forests, minerals and rivers. But most of the income level of Jharkhandi is below BPL. Jharkhand has 40% of India’s total mineral reserves but the production value is just near about 10%.
But the womb of Jharkhand which is Bihar still is in a weird state. Bihar is among India’s one of the most retrograde states. But why is this happening despite the fact that the division promised development in both states?
The major problem of Bihar is drought and flood. Aside from that, poverty has always been a problem in the state, and it has remained higher than the baby state Jharkhand’s average. Despite the fact that the figures fluctuated, the difference remained the same. Poverty rate in Jharkhand is improving day by day , the recent reports frames a better looking Jharkhand with 6.2% growth.
After Division, Condition of Jharkhand
In comparison to Jharkhand, Bihar had slower per capita income growth. As a result, poverty reduction is extremely slow. Furthermore, poverty is directly related to low agricultural productivity, lack of land reforms, caste rigidity, socioeconomic structure of society, lack of law and order, underdeveloped industrial sector, and so on. On this aspect Jharkhand stands tall as it had managed to double the income of its people in two decades. But on the other hand Bihar’s condition is even more deteriorated.The average growth rates before the formation of the state was pretty ordinary but after the year 2000. Changes were drastic as Jharkhand experienced a growth of 3.5% in the very first year of separation from Bihar. Bihar’s division, according to experts, is asymmetric, favouring Jharkhand more than Bihar.
Bihar received three-fourths of the liabilities and only one-fourth of the assets in the split. As a result of the bifurcation, Bihar is now poorer than it has ever been. Most of the manufacturing units in southern Bihar naturally shifted to Jharkhand. The failure of the industrial sector resulted in loss of revenue and fell from 10% to 1.5% in one go. But still being the coal capital of India and with Tata Steel operating day and night for the upliftment of the state yet it ranks at the bottom among all states on Human Development Indices (HDI).
What more Chhotanagpur needs?
The representatives of Jharkhand cheated the people of their own state. In nearly 20 years of rule, regional aspirations have been deafened. Due to its support for the identity of Jharkhand, the present government is highly respected. The slow rate of progress of the state is primarily due to the lack of formal and quality education. The higher education universities and institutions are not getting enough funds to manage stuffs for the all-round development of the local tribal students of Jharkhand and the domination by the outsiders, is also a point of introspection.
The need for the hour is here for Chota-Nagpuries. Some prime steps should be the priority of the state ASAP. Firstly to indigenize the government owned institutions by recruiting locals who had their secondary or higher education from Jharkhand. It would also serve the purpose of quality students migrating from other states in search of government jobs as now they must have a educational degree from Jharkhand’s University. In order to rectify the past default, present government should be set up strong redressal mechanism.