The 17.6 per cent growth rate of Bihar in 2014-15, the highest in the country, has negated the claims of the BJP that the State’s progress came to a grinding halt under Nitish Kumar after he severed ties with the BJP and joined hands with the RJD.
According to the latest report of the National Institution for Transforming India (NITI) Ayog, Bihar’s growth rate of 17.6 per cent is in terms of gross State domestic product (GSDP) in 2014-15. Bihar has left behind all other States with Madhya Pradesh following it with 16.69 per cent, Goa 16.43 per cent and Maharashtra 11.69 per cent.
Expressing his satisfaction over the report, Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Friday said, “Our rivals during election had campaigned that the speed of the growth has come to a standstill. We had countered those charges with facts and figures. Now this report has proved them wrong and vindicated our stand.”
Saying that Bihar continues progressing on the path of development with justice, Nitish thanked NITI Ayog for publishing the figures. He said his Government constantly took steps for the progress in infrastructure and social sectors and strictly implemented rule of law.
Bihar’s growth rate saw a remarkable increase in the last one decade. Starting with 6.05 per cent in 2005-06, it skyrocketed to 22.12 per cent in 2006-07, 12.85 per cent in 2007-08, 25.16 per cent in 2008-09, 14.51 per cent in 2009-10, 24.94 per cent in 2010-11, 19.51 per cent in 2011-12, 20.70 per cent in 2012-13 and 17.05 per cent in 2013-14. This pace of development put Bihar on top of the most developed States.
The latest figures silenced the Opposition, particularly BJP which tried to put Bihar under dark shadow for what it called brake on growth. JD(U) general secretary Neeraj Kumar said, “It is for the BJP including Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP president Amit Shah to take their words back on Bihar’s development.”
The CM said all the charges leveled against his Government during the Assembly election have proved wrong. “A smear campaign had been launched to defame Bihar. We had challenged those allegations. Now those lies have been exposed,” he said and added that he would continue with efforts for all round progress and prosperity of Bihar and its people with their performance and commitment and with the help of all stakeholders to maintain this growth rate.
While RJD and Congress leaders hailed the report and lauded the works done by Nitish, the BJP played down the report and insisted that Bihar was no longer showing the growth trend which it did during NDA rule. “The progress has slowed down,” said senior BJP leader Nand Kishore Yadav. State BJP president Mangal Pandey claimed, “The figures putting Bihar on top belonged to the period of Jitan Ram Manjhi.” Former CM Manjhi said he believed in ground realities and not the figures. “The ground reality is that poor are getting poorer. The need is to see their condition and do for their progress,” he added.
Former Deputy CM Sushil Kumar Modi, who served as Finance Minister under Nitish Kumar for about seven years, said that BJP stands on the claim that growth rate has come down. Commenting on the NITI Ayog report, he said it was clear from the comparative figures that growth rate in 2013-14 was 17.05 per cent as against 20.70 per cent in 2012-13. The credit for the slight improvement in 2014-15 goes to then CM Jitan Ram Manjhi, Modi claimed. The BJP leader said that the 20.70 per cent growth rate slumped to 17.05 per cent in 2013-14 because of break up of ties with BJP. He also quoted Bihar Economic Survey report to claim that the growth rate of 2012-13 could not be achieved in the later years.