THE Bihar government led by Nitish Kumar has brought out a report card on its performance after the completion of one year in office in November. It boasts of implementation of 35 per cent reservation for women in all state government jobs, enforcement of total prohibition, beginning of work on the Kachi Dargah-Bidupur six-lane bridge on the Ganges and conducting free and fair matriculation examinations. Kumar has proclaimed that the mahagathbandhan (grand alliance) of his JD(U), RJD and Congress has started work on all seven major promises made to the people in the run up to the Assembly election, including providing uninterrupted electricity and running water to all households, toilets in every home, skill training to youths and connecting every hamlet with metalled road.

The report card, however, is silent on the state of agrarian sector, which is the mainstay of Bihar’s economy, education, health and public distribution system (PDS) and implementation of various welfare measures such as rural job scheme   MNREGA. There is also nothing to show about investment in industrial sectors and creation of jobs outside agriculture. The criminal silence about the ever-growing informal sector workers and their inhuman exploitation speaks volumes about the trajectory of development pursued by Kumar-led governments in the last 11 years.

The seven promises present a pathetic state of the rural population who have been condemned to live a miserable life without basic facilities like safe drinking water, electricity, roads and toilets. These issues must be addressed on priority, but the questions of food, shelter, education, health and employment need far more attention and brooks no delay. And these issues are connected to the class approach of the government and its approach towards neo-liberal economic policies.

Kumar, in his 11-year rule, has shown willingness to remain in the good books of corporate-friendly economists. Though a socialist of the Lohia School, he shamelessly abandoned the project of land reform and threw the Bandyopadhyay Commission report in the dustbin. In the same vein, he also dumped the concept of education for all and accepted the top-down strategy of development without disturbing the class composition in the rural heartland and the neo-rich who have acquired wealth and muscle power and are the pillars of political power of the present dispensation.

The so-called social justice is a window dressing without empowering the vast landless rural peasantry and other vulnerable sections of the society. It has resulted in the large number of migration from the rural areas to towns and cities and different parts of the country to eke out a miserable life by selling labour.

The present government has failed to generate employment outside agricultural sector. There is complete lull on industrial front. The government has simply failed to set up agro-based industries despite availability of various agricultural products like maze banana, makhana, honey, litchi and mango which are produced in abundance. The producers rue their loss as the government has completely failed to provide them basic facilities for production, storage, marketing and value adding. Neither the producers nor the consumers are getting benefits. The story is the same with other farm produces like vegetables, rice, wheat and pulses. The so-called agricultural road map has been conveniently forgotten.

The boast of 35 per cent quota for women in government jobs is nothing but an eyewash as there is no employment in the public sector.  Two-and-a-half lakh posts are lying vacant in various departments and there is complete moratorium on fresh recruitment. Outsourcing, casualisation and recruitment on daily basis have become the norm.

One can come across a large number of young boys and girls, with bachelor and master’s degrees, looking for any type of job in malls, restaurants, shops, etc. They are also seen promoting various products of different companies chasing customers on roads and offices. Hundreds of computer operators work in different government offices on salaries ranging from Rs 5,000 to Rs 8,000, having no other statutory benefits. The so-called welfare scheme --Arathik hal, Yuvaon ka bal -- is nothing but a big joke and adds salt in the wounds of unemployed youths.

Much have been written about the education and health sectors of Bihar. Both the important sectors are in doldrums. One can see the mushrooming of private educational institutions and private clinics in proportion to the deterioration of public education and health system. The government has abdicated its responsibility to provide quality education and quality health care to the common people and have left them to fend for themselves.

The two together are pushing more and more people to BPL category. By taking a round in Patna, one can get the answer regarding state of health service and education system. High-rise private hospitals and sprawling signature brand schools thrive in the midst of misery and hopelessness of the vast number of people who have been marginalised under the neo-liberal regime. The Nitish Kumar government has quietly allowed this to happen.

Nawal Kishore Chowdhary, economist and former principal of Patna College, said the development process has slowed down as Kumar mostly focuses on political issues. He said teachers have not been appointed in universities and schools. There are few new doctors in hospitals and many projects are not completed. As per a retired bureaucrat, the condition of roads in most parts of the state has deteriorated drastically in the past year. The road between Patna and Sasaram is full of potholes. As far as new roads, sources of irrigation, health and educational institutions are concerned, not much has happened in the state over the past two years. Medical facilities in government hospitals are in bad shape. The entire machinery must be revamped to provide proper medical care to the poor and the needy. The government should improve law and order so that doctors from other places come to the city.

BJP too has brought out a report on the performance of the government only to prove that when it was the part of the Nitish Kumar dispensation, Bihar was marching ahead and now the deluge. Interestingly, BJP while referring to the rising graph of lawlessness cited the instances of communal disturbances in the state. It is true that crime graph has risen and general law and order in the state has deteriorated. In the past two years, incidents of rape, particularly of Dalit women and even young girls, have increased manifold. High profile crime issues involving Shahabuddin and Rajballav have dented the so-called clean image of Kumar. But BJP should share the responsibilities of creating communal tension at various places. It was solely responsible for creating communal tension in Chapra and is always trying to foment communal trouble to polarise the masses  and take  political advantage out of it.

In the meantime, Bihar is agog with the story of large parcels of land bought by BJP in different districts of the state for building party offices. The whole exercise was carried out just before the announcement of demonetisation of 500 and 1,000 rupee notes. BJP is on the back foot on this issue, but harping on the demonetisation as the panacea for doing away with black money.

In the slanging match between BJP and the grand alliance, there is a special role cut out for the Left forces which have an alternative agenda of growth for Bihar. By closing their ranks, the Left forces should come forward to oppose the anti-people policies pursued by the state government and thwart the corporate-communal agenda of BJP.