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As the commentariat finishes with SSR and now goes to town about BJP-JDU-LJP, a look at some of the REAL issues in Bihar not getting attention. 1/15
As the commentariat finishes with SSR and now goes to town about BJP-JDU-LJP, a look at some of the REAL issues in Bihar not getting attention. 1/15
Did you know groundwater across almost the entire state is contaminated by arsenic, a carcinogen. That Bihar has high incidence of cancer? And that, as recently as 2017, the state government was busily ignoring the problem. https://scroll.in/pulse/835431/ignored-arsenic-contamination-in-bihars-water-has-led-to-an-explosion-of-cancer">https://scroll.in/pulse/835... 2/15
Unlike other states in India, Bihar is not seeing an epidemiological transition from infectious diseases to lifestyle diseases. Instead, it is replacing one set of infectious diseases (like Kala Azar) with another (like Dengue). https://scroll.in/pulse/837083/lessons-from-bihars-2016-dengue-outbreak-migration-poverty-garbage-are-spreading-new-diseases">https://scroll.in/pulse/837... 3/15
Once more, this is a problem the state is busy minimising – by not collecting data on the incidence of dengue. https://scroll.in/pulse/837091/bihar-cant-even-count-how-many-dengue-cases-it-has-had-let-alone-fight-the-disease">https://scroll.in/pulse/837... 4/15
Read that report to also see how extraordinary understaffing of medical facilities is in Bihar.
5/15
5/15
I wrote that report in 2017. Reading this Reuters report about Covid in Bihar, it was clear absolutely nothing has changed. https://in.reuters.com/article/health-coronavirus-india-doctor-specialr/last-doctor-standing-pandemic-pushes-indian-hospital-to-brink-idINKCN2590B8">https://in.reuters.com/article/h... 6/15
This is a wider truth about Bihar. Nitish did good work in his first term but, by the third, his government was more about optics than anything else. Implementation of everything – land reforms, NREGA, education delivery – is pathetic. https://scroll.in/article/839031/bihar-is-struggling-to-improve-the-lives-of-the-poor-even-after-27-years-of-backward-caste-rule">https://scroll.in/article/8... 7/15
See this report too on aborted land reforms in the state – by @raksha_kumar. https://scroll.in/article/868266/in-bihar-a-land-programme-for-dalits-improved-many-lives-until-nitish-kumar-allied-with-the-bjp">https://scroll.in/article/8... 8/15
Why are things so extraordinary suboptimal? Because its leaders are unwilling to do anything that offends potentially useful caste blocs. https://scroll.in/article/839032/bihars-nitish-kumar-has-been-in-power-for-12-years-why-has-he-failed-to-change-its-fortunes">https://scroll.in/article/8... 9/15
Given this absent state, people in Bihar fall back on the market, on strongmen, on NGOs for their essential services. Each of these, naturally, works imperfectly. https://scroll.in/article/839033/whats-common-between-coaching-classes-in-bihar-and-bahubalis.">https://scroll.in/article/8... But, no. Not an election issue, this extraordinary state failure. 10/15
This is a state where the informal economy provides sustenance. It was hammered by demonetisation, then the cash crunch, and now is in a deeper hole due to lockdowns and the end of migrant remittances. Again, not an election issue worth debating. 11/15
Since the last assembly polls in the state, Bihar has seen a rightwing polarisation campaign amp up, trying to break the RJD’s vote blocs. A field report from Chhapra. https://scroll.in/article/838619/fear-and-loathing-in-chhapra-how-a-peaceful-bihar-town-became-a-communal-tinderbox">https://scroll.in/article/8... (many hyperlinks in there) 12/15
These communal tensions, naturally, are not organic but manufactured. A look at some of the mechanics here. https://scroll.in/article/839171/caste-calculus-how-the-bjp-is-expanding-its-footprint-in-bihar.">https://scroll.in/article/8... Again, not an election issue. 13/15
In more recent months, we have had further proof of decay in the state. Like a court locking up activists who protested about their colleague’s rape. https://theprint.in/india/bihar-court-sends-gang-rape-survivor-to-jail-for-contempt-while-recording-statement/461368/">https://theprint.in/india/bih... 14/15
It’s easy to understand why politicians don’t want to talk about these real issues. In some, they are bereft of answers. In others, they profit from these egregious processes. What is striking is how our commentariat helps them get away. 15/15
PS: CLR James comes to mind. What do they know of cricket that only cricket know, he had written.
That applies to #BiharElectionshttps://abs.twimg.com/hashflags... draggable="false" alt="">. What do they know of politics that only politics know?
I will now say SIGH.
And End.
That applies to #BiharElections
I will now say SIGH.
And End.
