BIMARU

BIMARU (for BIhar, MAdhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh) is a pejorative made into

an acronym coined by taking the first letter of four northern Indian states: Bihar, Madhya
Pradesh, Rajasthan, Orissa and Uttar Pradesh. It has recently been modified to include Orissa in
the list, resulting in the acronym BIMAROU.

Several studies, including those by the UN, show that the performance of the BIMARU states
has adversely affected the GDP growth rate of India.

The pejorative BIMARU was coined by demographer Ashish Bose in the 1980s to mock the
Hindi speaking states of India so that funds to those states could be denied for development. AT
that time, he was on a project for Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi.

Notably, the higher than average population growth rate is a recent phenomenon, observed since
the 1970s only. As late as 1981, ignoring urban city like Delhi, Kerala was the state with the
highest population density .See Table 1.9 in the link. This is remarkable since the habitable
portion of Kerala as a percent of the total area is much smaller than the Gangentic plains states
with their highly fertile land.

Literacy rates
Statistics show that there is a lower literacy rate. However, what is not highlighted is that plans
were never conceived taking in consideration the cultural landscape of these states. With the
empowerment of the states, the policies are being modified. As a result, the statistics are
beginning to change.Please read page 19 for changes in Bihar.
A recent survey by National University of Educational Planning & Administration
or UNEPA has determined that quality of teachers in BIMARU states is better than all India.
Only 21 % of all primary school teachers in Bihar and 12.8% in UP are Matriculates or lower.
The rest are better educated. These figures compare favourably with other developed states
with Gujarat being the worst and Karnataka being the second worst. Renowned educationists
have asked for a complete overhaul of the educational system, particularly at the primary level.

Health care
There is a below average ratings on nearly all health-care indices. This is a direct result of the
apathy of the central government. Defying all logic, the central government has continued to give
lavish grants to the richer states at the cost of poorer states . For example, food subsidy is one of
the biggest expenditure of the central government for poverty alleviation scheme. A large part of
it goes into the hands of the rich farmers of Punjab in the name of minimum support price and
their inferior quality grain then rots in the godowns of the Food Corporation of India . Yet again,
the key index of average life span appears to indicate that the Hindi speaking states are better
than the non Hindi ones, particularly the southern states.

Economic growth
The differences in economic and population growth rates between the BIMARU states and other
Indian states sharpened over the 1990s. The economy of the four BIMARU states grew at an
average of 4.6% per year in the 1990s, compared to 6.5% per year for India as a whole. Since
population growth in the BIMARU states was much higher that the Indian average in this period,
the income disparity between the BIMARU states and India as a whole also increased.

There has been no effort to involve the local population of these states in the planning process.
Most of the decision makers of august bodies like planning commission are not from these states.
No noteworthy public sector industry has its head quarters in these states. Coal is largely
produced in these states. However, the HQ of Coal India Ltd is in West Bengal. This region is
the biggest producer of steel. However, the HQ of Steel Authority of India is at Delhi. Banking
industry was nationalized in the sixties. The banks which were based out of these states were
merged with bigger entities which had their HQ elsewhere.Thus the decision makers, far
removed from these states, are apathetic to the needs of the people from these states. Above
mentioned Ashish Bose, Montek Singh Ahluwalia etc are examples of such ivory tower planners
who have been at the root of the continued backwardness of these states..