What is industrialization?
- Industrialization means the process of transformation of the economy from an agro-based economy[ agriculture and allied activities] to an industries-based [ manufacturing of goods and services].
Status of industrialization in Bihar :
As per various estimates, the following facts indicate the low level of industrialization or industrial backwardness of Bihar:
- 75 to 77 percent of the total workforce of Bihar is still involved in agricultural activities. It is the highest in India.
- The share of agriculture sectors in GDP is also high, it is about 25 %. Which is higher than the national average( 16.38 % at a constant price of 2011-12).
- the contribution of the Industry sector to the state GDP is about 20 % at the constant price 2011-12 which is far below the national average [ it is about 29.5 % at the constant price 2011-12].
The above two facts indicate that Bihar is an Industrial backward state.
Causes of the Industrial backwardness of Bihar:
The following are the causes of the Industrial backwardness of Bihar:
- Lack of mineral resources
- Weak infrastructures system
- Lack of skilled laborers
- Lack of capital and investment
- Unfavorable governance environment
Lack of mineral resources:
- Bihar neither has large mineral resources such as coal, iron ore, bauxite, etc nor has ports to import the mineral resources from abroad for the establishment of heavy industries. For this reason, large industries in Bihar are not present.
Weak infrastructures system:
- Basic infrastructure such as electricity, highways, large urban agglomeration center, etc are lacking in Bihar; as a result, other industries such as IT, agro-based industries, footloose industries, etc are also not attracted to the state.
Lack of skilled laborers:
- The literacy rate in Bihar was 61.80 in 2011 which is the lowest in the country. The quality of education is very poor in Bihar. There are not many skilled people available in Bihar to attract service-based industries such as IT.
Lack of capital and investment
- As about 52 % of the state population is living below the poverty line, they do not have much money for saving. Low saving leads to low capital formation and investment which leads to low urbanization and industrialization.
Unfavorable governance environment:
- Rape tapes, rampant corruption, and demands for extortion by powerful criminals kept draining skills, and capital from the state and created a bad image for investors as well.
Consequences of Industrial backwardness of Bihar:
The following are the consequences of the Industrial backwardness of Bihar:
- High migration
- Brain drain
- Low urbanization
- High level of poverty
- Lack of revenue source for the government
- Low-level socio-economic development.
- Low capital formation
High migrations from the state:
Due to the industrial backwardness in Bihar, there are low livelihood opportunities in the state as a result people go to other states such as Maharashtra, Punjab, Haryana, Tamil Nadu, and others the search of employment.
Migration from state leads to:
- Brain drain
- Demographic changes[ generally young male migrates and females, children, and old people remains in the village]
Low urbanization:
- Industries help to speed up urbanization.
- Urbanization [ people living in urban areas] in Bihar is about 11.3 % and it is far below India's average[ 32 %].
High level of poverty:
- There is an inverse relationship between the level of industrialization and poverty. There is low poverty in highly industrialized areas.
- because of low industrialization in the state, around 52 % of the Bihar population is living below the poverty line and it is the highest in the country. The per capita income of the people is also the lowest in the country.
Low-level socio-economic development:
There is an inverse relationship between the level of industrialization of socioeconomic development of the area.
Bihar is bottom in all the socio-economic parameters of the country. The following are some indicators:
- HDI values in 2018: 0.576.
- Life expectancy at birth(2014-18): 69.1 years
- Infant mortality rate: 32/1000
- Maternal mortality ratio: 149/1 lakh births
- Per capita income( 2017-18): Rs. 38631 per annum.
The above indicator shows that there is low socio-economic development in Bihar and it is largely because of the low level of industrialization in the state.
Try to solve the following questions:
- Throw light on the causes and consequences of the Industrial backwardness of Bihar. ( 66th BPSC)
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