Let me present some data before I begin.
Population (million)
India = 1210
Bihar = 0103
Patna = 0006
Rest of Bihar = 0097
Total Installed capacity of Power generation (MW)
India = 172000
Bihar's share = 001695
Actual supply = 000677
Emergency services and Patna's share = 000600
Rest of Bihar = 000077
Per capita terms (MW/million)
India = 142.1
Bihar's share = 016.5
Actual supply = 006.5
Patna = 100.0
Rest of Bihar = 000.8
India/ Rest of Bihar = 178
Right then, take a deep breath, drink some water or may be blur out the 'f' word. If you still can't digest it, see a doctor. Rest of Bihar (8% of India) is 178 times more deprived than an average Indian and you say we are backward.
Electrification is one thing but providing electricity a completely different one. Electricity is one of the most basic infrastructures required to start any business/industrial establishment and so no jobs, no growth, no development. I won't go on on this topic, we all are aware.
I will tell you an incident of Bhagalpur (3rd largest district in Bihar).
Some 8-10 years back, the power scenario was less than 1 hour per day for around 1 month or so. A group of people staged non-violent protest infront of the electricity department. The protesters were shut up in a warehouse and beaten up badly. The incident was widely reported and out of nowhere there was electricity for more than 12 hours the next day.
This March, same scenario, no electricity, no water. Without any prior announcement of bandh, an organised protest started all over the city at around 10 am. The two buildings of the electricity departments, 2 jeeps and 8 motor cycles were set ablaze by the violent mob. The aam aadmi supported the bandh. Administration was caught unprepared and could do nothing but watch. The incident was widely reported and out of nowhere there was electricity for more than 12 hours the next day.
Questions?
1. Where did the electricity suddenly come from ?
2. What precedent does "the sense of victory through undemocratic means" set forth ?
3. Why was the administration unable to sniff such widespread organised action coming up ?
4. Why the hell is 8 % of Indian population 178 times deprived ?
This answers one grave question though - "Why do the Biharis migrate to other states ?"
Population (million)
India = 1210
Bihar = 0103
Patna = 0006
Rest of Bihar = 0097
Total Installed capacity of Power generation (MW)
India = 172000
Bihar's share = 001695
Actual supply = 000677
Emergency services and Patna's share = 000600
Rest of Bihar = 000077
Per capita terms (MW/million)
India = 142.1
Bihar's share = 016.5
Actual supply = 006.5
Patna = 100.0
Rest of Bihar = 000.8
India/ Rest of Bihar = 178
Right then, take a deep breath, drink some water or may be blur out the 'f' word. If you still can't digest it, see a doctor. Rest of Bihar (8% of India) is 178 times more deprived than an average Indian and you say we are backward.
Electrification is one thing but providing electricity a completely different one. Electricity is one of the most basic infrastructures required to start any business/industrial establishment and so no jobs, no growth, no development. I won't go on on this topic, we all are aware.
I will tell you an incident of Bhagalpur (3rd largest district in Bihar).
Some 8-10 years back, the power scenario was less than 1 hour per day for around 1 month or so. A group of people staged non-violent protest infront of the electricity department. The protesters were shut up in a warehouse and beaten up badly. The incident was widely reported and out of nowhere there was electricity for more than 12 hours the next day.
This March, same scenario, no electricity, no water. Without any prior announcement of bandh, an organised protest started all over the city at around 10 am. The two buildings of the electricity departments, 2 jeeps and 8 motor cycles were set ablaze by the violent mob. The aam aadmi supported the bandh. Administration was caught unprepared and could do nothing but watch. The incident was widely reported and out of nowhere there was electricity for more than 12 hours the next day.
Questions?
1. Where did the electricity suddenly come from ?
2. What precedent does "the sense of victory through undemocratic means" set forth ?
3. Why was the administration unable to sniff such widespread organised action coming up ?
4. Why the hell is 8 % of Indian population 178 times deprived ?
This answers one grave question though - "Why do the Biharis migrate to other states ?"
Its said "In democracy people get the kind of government they deserve....", same is the case with bihar. One statistic you missed was the % of union budget that goes into bihar vs the tax generated......the problem in India is that the next years budget has nothing to do with last years yeild........
ReplyDeleteI agree to your 2nd point completely. Regarding "In Democracy.." It's true for most democracies but India's is a sham democracy. Owing to the federal set up, things work out in a state's favor if and only if the government at the center and at the states belong to the same party. Another thing with Bihar has been the history of development.. development has always been near the coastal areas and areas rich in resources.. so higher taxes.. so higher budgets.. so more development. It is the vicious cycle that Bihar is stuck in.
ReplyDeleteThe title of the blog should have been Power crisis in Bihar, else my views could be taken as narrow.
ReplyDeleteProbably the sudden surge of electricity was on the expense of Patna !
ReplyDeleteAnd it's a real shame that on the one hand we plan world-class infrastructure in urban areas and on the other not able to provide electricity to other areas.
hey,
ReplyDeletei have done some of my analysis on this and there are few glaring reasons for this:
1. compare bihar with its newest neighbor jharkhand and you will see a lot of contrasts in the statistics you showed above. a similar crisis (but not so drastic) situation also persists in madhya pradesh ever since its power-rich brother chattisgarh was split up from it. S
tates like chattisgarh and jharkhand being power-rich - they sell their generated capacity to parties who can give them a higher price. Hence, power-poor states continue to be power poor. Read this: http://www.myjamshedpur.com/power-generation-and-distribution
2. People can begin their own initiatives like setting up of biogas plants which can prove to be an effective component of power supply in the long run.
3. One more being lower amount of pressure on the state / central government than we should have placed. Bihar being a state which has given the country tons of intellectuals and government officers at esteemed positions should have a good opportunity to do so.
ReplyDeleteye lo power crisis solve karne ka tareeka ...
ReplyDeletehttp://archipelago-kota.blogspot.com/2011/04/adopt-solar-energy-its-time.html
@Ginie: Rightly said, it is the beautiful girl who has multiple suitors.
ReplyDelete@archi: nice point raised, definitely rings bells.