It is impossible to get any work done in Uttar Pradesh unless one is from a particular community or able to grease the right quarters in the political corridors. No wonder, the State remains in shambles, despite its potential in terms of skilled labour and progressive farmers
Uttar Pradesh remains a laggard in Team India as it is bogged down by family, caste and communal politics. Despite high potential, in terms of skilled labour, forward-looking farmers, and entrepreneurs who are keen on taking the plunge, the State remains sick and is euphemistically called a bimaru State.
Caste domination is hampering progress in Uttar Pradesh. Industry, pestered by rangdari and demands of the clan close to the ruling party, is the most uncomfortable and keen on moving away from the State. Many businesses have already moved, leaving behind just a skeleton of their establishments, and that too for mostly technical and legal reasons.
It is an irony that if the memorandum of understandings signed by the State is taken into account, it will be found that during the time when mr Mulayam Singh Yadav was the Chief Minister, the State signed agreements worth Rs53,000 crore with industry houses twice. However, a miniscule percentage turned into fruitful investment. Of course, the MoUs served the electoral purpose.
The current Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh, Mr Akhilesh Yadav, is no better. He has, during the past few months, signed MoUs worth Rs60,000 crore with various industrial houses. If the past record is anything to go by, these will remain on paper only.
The State’s MoUs have almost become a matter of folklore. In reality, if all the investments promised in MoUs had come through, Uttar Pradesh would have been one of the fast growing States of India. Unfortunately, it is at the bottom of the development pyramid. The State is marked by poor law and order, bad roads as well as faltering power and water supply. It is also losing on the agriculture front, which was once its pride.
The prized areas of Uttar Pradesh — Noida, Greater Noida and Ghaziabad — have about two lakh unfinished housing units. Unfinished residential and office towers, built without consideration for basic civic needs like water, power and transportation, are a reminder of the largest debts taken by real estate promoters and builders from banks and financial institutions.
It is believed that during Ms Mayawati’s rule, one particular social segment made progress and the State became a virtual monopoly of a single corporate house. It remains so even today. That group holds large chunks of prime land in Noida, Greater Noida and other parts of the State. Its prized Formula One car racing track remains a showpiece. It has one of the largest empty housing towers.
This group, which also has the largest share in roads, expressways and power plants, is one of the highest debt-ridden companies. Reportedly, the company owes Rs95,272 crore in debt — almost one-third of the total non-performing assets of the public sector banks. In a report titled ‘House of Debt’, Credit Suisse raised an alarm way back in 2012. The report listed India’s top 10 most indebted corporate houses which included many that have a base in Uttar Pradesh. Some of these companies have even been barred from bidding for projects over Rs25,000 crore by Government agencies in seven States.
According to a study conducted by the Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India, Uttar Pradesh is worst among the traditional Bimaru (Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh) States. Even in the agriculture and allied sectors, the State has proved to be the slowest with a 2.9 per cent growth rate, well below the national growth rate of 3.7 per cent. The share of agriculture and allied sector in Uttar Pradesh’s gross State domestic product has dipped from 29.7 per cent in 2004-2005 to 21.9 per cent in 2012-2013.
Still, according to the official data, 72 per cent of the State’s people are dependent on agriculture. The sector is characterised by low growth, low employment, low crop, low income and high inputs. The largest population of agricultural workers — landless and small holders — are adversely affected. According to a study by the Middle-East Journal of Scientific Research, policy discrimination within the agriculture sector has widened the rural-urban, rich-poor divide.
The sugar industry is in a mess worth Rs25,000 crore. This has hit the farmers of west Uttar Pradesh. The sugar industry has not paid the farmers for years. This is developing into a major political problem. According to Mr RK Bansal, chairman of the corporate debt re-structuring cell and executive director at IDBI Bank, “While sugar mills in most States are facing difficulties, those in Uttar Pradesh are worse hit because the State Government has prescribed a particularly high State advised price to score politically.”
The Moradabad brass industry is known all over the world for its fine handicraft. This too is losing sheen. In 2006-2007, the total export turnover from this Moradabad was Rs3,200 crore, which has came down to Rs1,800 crore in 2011-2012. However, the domestic business for Moradabad industries has grown to Rs1,800 crore in 2011-2012 from Rs1,500 crore in 2006-2007.
The story does not end here. A number of institutions offering management, engineering and technical education have approached the All India Council for Technical Education and the Uttar Pradesh Government for permission to shut down their operations as they are not getting enough students (because they offer poor education and due to the slump in jobs).
A proper inquiry in Uttar Pradesh may expose that the situations in the State is worse than say Madhya Pradesh, which has been in the news lately due to the admission and recruitment scam involving politicians, senior Government officials and businessmen. In Uttar Pradesh, youths do not get jobs on the basis of merit. People have lost faith in the State Public Service Commission, which selects 54 candidates for the job of sub-divisional magistrate out of a total of 86.
Reportedly, some ophthalmologists were required for a Government hospital in Allahabad. The candidates who were supposed to have done best were thrown out, to favour those who had the backing of a politically powerful Minister. The State has also virtually declared a moratorium on recruitments including the coveted State civil services.
Of the 20 Yash Bharti awardees in the literature and the arts, 15 belonged to one caste and five were from a minority group. Of the 75 District Magistrates, 63 are from the same caste, so are 62 basic Shiksha Adhikaris, 67 per cent of police station house officers, the Uttar Pradesh Public Service Commission Chairman, subordinate services commission and secondary education selection committee members. It is impossible to get work done in the State unless one is from a particular caste or is able to please the right quarters. No wonder the State remains in shambles.