Introduction
DMK leader and MP Dayanidhi Maran’s remark on the North Indian was not only unfortunate but also an eye-opener for UP and Bihar’s leaders. Dayanidhi Maran in an old video was heard saying that people who learn English end up working with IT companies and people who only learn Hindi end up doing menial jobs. People from UP and Bihar come to Tamil Nadu and do menial jobs like cleaning roads and toilets as quoted by Maran.
Ideally, this statement should have been avoided as it creates a rift between Indian states, especially among poor migrants who have to leave their home states in search of better living and opportunities.
This also comes as an eye-opener because Bihar is now part of the INDI alliance and Nitish rallied hard to bring together different parties from South and North under one umbrella. Recent remarks of DMK party leaders have shown a lack of strategy between INDI alliance leaders as anti-North Indian remarks or anti-Sanatani remarks might garner votes for them locally in their state but for other parties like Congress, RJD, and JDU, it will backfire for sure.
Nevertheless, we are not going to discuss the repercussions on the INDI alliance due to such comments. Instead, we will check out why Biharis still go out of their states to look for petty jobs to support their families. This could have been true for UP also but things have improved for the state having the largest population.
Bihar’s Old Problem
In 2005, the poverty rate in Bihar was 54.5 percent. It was the poorest state in the country. Nitish Kumar promised to eradicate poverty when he came to power. Today, Bihar remains the poorest state. The poverty rate is 51.9 percent. According to a NITI Aayog report, over half of Bihar’s population is extremely poor in various facets. According to data from the Centre for Monitoring the Indian Economy (CMIE), Bihar’s unemployment rate in February 2023 rose to 12.3 percent, while the national figure was 7.5 percent.
This was primarily due to RJD’s jungle raj rule which gave rise to caste politics giving benefits to one caste and weakening the others. Even Nitish could not do much to increase the employment rate as his politics was more or less rotating on giving special status to Bihar and getting funds from the central government. Nitish’s flip-flop politics was majorly to secure his Chief minister post and hardly took any bold decision to upgrade the status of poor Biharis.
Most of the migrant workers in Punjab and Haryana are working for big zamindars doing menial work in their fields or cleaning cattle dung. Then we have Biharis in Delhi, Maharashtra, and South States like Karnataka or Tamil Nadu working as daily wagers at construction sites. During the pandemic in 2020, we saw a mass exodus of these migrant workers pushing back to their states in Bihar and UP. The condition was disheartening as we saw many deaths during this journey.
Nitish last year changed the rule for teachers to get applicants from other states. This move was largely seen as the step to becoming a national leader who can contest as the prime minister’s face in the upcoming general elections. Nitish and leaders from RJD should introspect on why they have not been able to do justice to the poor Biharis. They have been engaged in caste politics and power-centric politics for ages without helping their people to succeed.
UP’s Turnaround
We have seen major changes happening in the Uttar Pradesh state since Yogi came to power. If you think Ram Mandir and the law and order situation were the major achievements of Yogi and the BJP government, then you might have to rethink.
The Yogi government’s efforts to bring in investments in the state, infrastructure development to increase employment, and a secure environment for the people of the state and business owners were other factors that increased the credibility of Uttar Pradesh. Nitish and Lalu’s party leaders can learn a lesson from Yogi on managing the state with proper governance.
Conclusion
Even though DMK leaders have continuously insulted North Indian people. It should act like a force to propel them to new heights, at least better than their current situation. The Bihar government should be held accountable for the condition of the state and should work hard to change it for good. Nitish can only dream of becoming prime minister if he does something for his state and puts it as an example of a growth model as Modi did for Gujarat.