I was not able to stop myself from laughing out loud after reading this funny acronym.So i thought to search out who actually coined this term and what does this term mean ?
Here is something what Wikipedia has to say-
“BIMARU (for BIhar, MAdhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh) is an acronym coined by taking the first letter of four northern Indian states: Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, and Uttar Pradesh. This term has definite derogatory undertones as it is a take on the Hindi term ‘Bimar’, which means sick; the acronym “BIMARU” brings forth images of a collection of sick people.
By his own admission, the pejorative BIMARU was coined by the Demographer Ashish Bose [1]. Whether or not he coined it, he has definitely used it extensively to refer to the four states in not a very favorable light. Bose’s theory that these states have dragged down India’s progress and economic development has been corroborated by several studies including those by the UN.[2] [3] “
Then question arises why BIMARU STATES are SICK while other STATES are relatively healthy ???
Well Wikipedia has answer for this also…..some of the reasons cited are
“Higher than average population growth rates“
“Lower than average literacy rates“
“Below average ratings on nearly all health-care indices“
“Slower than average economic growth rates“
So when after Independence the whole country started together on the path of progress why were these states left behind in the race….?
some of the answers which have been given by the Centre for Policy Alternatives-http://cpasindia.org/index.html(Centre for Policy Alternatives Society (CPAS). CPAS is a privately funded think tank focused on the study and review of public policy in India. CPAS is registered under the “Society Registration Act (XXI) of 1860”.)
“Bihar, which has received the lowest per capita grant in each of the five year plans since independence [5], [6] & [7]“
On Education-
“Plans were never conceived taking in consideration the cultural landscape of these states. [9] With the empowerment of the states, the policies are being modified. As a result, the statistics are beginning to change [10]“
“UP’s politicians seem determined to put narrow and immediate interests ahead of greater national goals. Having said this, it must also be said that our national leadership in general and our Prime Minister more specifically have also failed in articulating national goals.-Mohan Guruswamy(http://cpasindia.org/articles/mg-07-04-25-future-uttar-pradesh.html)”
What Mp Government has to say ?
“Today, our natural resources as well as
financial resources are sinking and we are just able to fulfill the basic
needs of the people. Although state government is committed to
improve the quality of the life of its people, but providing education,
heath, safe drinking water and housing to every one is
beyond the capacity of the government. Not only this our
resources are are not sufficient enough to cater the basic needs
of the most vulnerable section of the society i.e. poorest of the poor.(http://www.health.mp.gov.in/plan.pdf)”
The problem of corruption is another very obvious cause as i have observed in people around me.And the accused actually include people from all sections of society.The problem of corruption indicates lack of sense of moral responsibility and work ethics in people working in government institutions.
But none-the-less it is a challenge for the governments of the BIMARU states to develop insights into these problems and jot down some farsighted plans to tackle them.
View Dr Sandeep Moolchandani’s profile
www.arogyada.in
