India's BIMARU states are developing but there's a long way ahead

By: Anshul Vipat

In India, as compared to other states, BIMARU states have been lacking behind in terms of development and have not been able to improve their ranking on different national indicators

The socio-economic development of any region is extremely important for the overall progress and for the improvement in the basic infrastructure of that particular region. It has been observed over the years that a country like India which is one of the fastest growing economies in the world and the fifth largest economy in the world hasn’t been performing very well on the different socio-economic and health indicators of the international organizations. India ranks 132^nd in the United Nation’s Human Development Index. The country has been ranked at the 136^th position on the World Happiness Report 2022. This shows that though the government has been taking progressive steps towards boosting the socio-economic development in the country, it has got a long path to walk upon.

In India, as compared to other states, BIMARU states have been lacking behind in terms of development and have not been able to improve their ranking on different national indicators. Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, and Uttar Pradesh are the four states that make up the BIMARU region in northern India. The abbreviation ‘BIMARU’ was created from the first letters of the state names. The term was coined by Ashish Bose in the mid-1980s. The name BIMARU is similar to the Hindi word "Bimar," which means "ill." This was a reference to the dire economic circumstances present in those states. Numerous studies, notably those conducted by the UN, revealed that India's GDP growth rate was being hampered by the BIMARU states' poor performance. One of the major factor behind the slow pace of development in these states is the high population and its growth. Among the BIMARU states, Uttar Pradesh is the most populated states in the country. According to different reports, corruption has been recorded on a larger scale in these states as compared to the rest of India.

India Tracker takes a look at the progress made by the women in the BIMARU states by analysing the National Family Health Survey-4 (2015-16) and National Family Health Survey-5 (2019-21).

Bihar had the least female literacy rate in 2016 as the state reported the literacy rate of 49.5%. The highest literacy rate was recorded in the state of Uttar Pradesh at 61%. This means that that the 61% women could read and write in India’s most populated state in 2016. Coming over to the internet used by women, the data is not available for the year 2015-16. The female sterilization rate was highest in Madhya Pradesh at 42.20% and was at the lowest in Uttar Pradesh at just 17.30%. One of the most important indicator of women empowerment is the participation of married women in the decision making. The highest participation of married women’s participation in decision making was recorded in Madhya Pradesh at 82%. This is very important to mark because in spite of these states performing poor on certain socio-economic indicators, participation of women in household decision making is very high. Bihar topped the chart among BIMARU states as 58% women in the state own a house or land. Rajasthan was at the bottom as only 24.10% of women own land or house in the state. The women empowerment seriously lacked in these states.

All the BIMARU states witnessed a good increase in the female literacy rate from 2016-2021. In 2016, Bihar had a female literacy rate of 49.6% which increased to 56% in 2021. The female literacy rate in MP increased from 59.4% in 2016 to 65.4% in 2021. Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh witnessed an increase of 5% in the female literacy rate. Rajasthan witnessed the highest usage of internet among women as 37% of the women use internet in the state while the lowest rate was found in Bihar at 20.6%. It must be noted that all the four states have been successful in minimizing the rate of women with below normal body mass index. This has been possible due to the variety of schemes implemented by the central government and the respective state governments. Food grain schemes, maternity benefit schemes, nutrition schemes, awareness generation by the local government bodies and the NGOs have contributed in improving the body mass index of women in the BIMARU states.

The participation of women in the household decision making also increased in these states as the level and the quality of education, participation of women in local politics and decision making also increased. The government aimed at making women atmanirbhar by providing economic and financial opportunities at their doorstep particularly in the rural areas by implementing a number of schemes and programmes. But on the other hand, the percentage of women working in last 12 months decreased in all the four states. The reason behind this can be attributed to the covid-19 pandemic and self-reliance of women. Talking about the percentage of women having a bank account, all the four states witnessed a massive increase in the percentage of women with bank accounts. This shows that there has been a growth in the financial independence and financial literacy among women.

In order to improve the performance of the BIMARU states and boost women empowerment in these states, the government at the levels must work hand in hand and ensure the implementation of the welfare schemes at the grassroots level. Responsible and transparent governance is absolutely necessary for the growth and development of these states.