This book studies the engagement of various Muslim communities with Bihar politics from colonial times to present-day India. It debunks several myths in highlighting Muslim resistance to the Two-Nation theory, and counters the ‘Isolation Syndrome’ faced by Muslim communities after Independence. Using rare archival sources and hitherto unexamined Urdu texts, this book offers a nuanced exploration of complex themes such as the struggle against Bengali hegemony, communalism, regionalism and alienation before Independence, recent language politics, the political assertion of low-caste Muslims in current Bihar, as well as their quest for social and gender justice. An important contribution to the study of South Asian Islam, this book will interest students and scholars of modern Indian history, politics, sociology, religion, gender, and minority studies.
Well-known economists and policy makers look at the Bihar model of development and discuss the challenges ahead During the 1990s, Bihar's development failed to benefit from the acceleration in India's economic growth, principally because of a steep decline in the already low standards of governance. this changed dramatically after November 2005, when The Nitish Kumar government came to power. Within a short time, major initiatives were launched in improving governance, infrastructure, education, especially primary and for girl children, health and agriculture. The last six years have shown that rapid economic development is possible in Bihar. To maintain the momentum of growth, the recent improvements in governance have to be consolidated and strengthened. Eminent economists like Amartya Sen, Kaushik Basu, Montek Singh Ahluwalia, Meghnad Desai, Shankar Acharya and Arvind Virmani analyse the remarkable turnaround witnessed by Bihar. Experts Tarun Das, Deepak Parekh, Lord Billimoria, K.V. Kamath and Isher Judge Ahluwalia speak of the opportunities and challenges ahead. This is a must read for anyone interested in governance and development.
The conventional wisdom in Bihar's political circles was that development did not win votes. Nitish Kumar challenged that assumption and changed the face of the state. Born into a humble family in Bakhtiyarpur, Nitish joined the Lohiaite Socialist Party and built his constituency, literally day by day, forgoing a stable job to travel to distant villages, suffering both financial hardship and ridicule for the eight years it took him to win people's confidence. Veteran journalist Arun Sinha tells the story of Nitish Kumar's rise against the larger canvas of social and political upheaval in Bihar, exploring the emergent desire for equality that drove progressive movements from late 1960s onwards and brought about a regime change by the 1990s. After an initial association with Lalu Prasad Yadav, Nitish Kumar rejected identity politics, recognizing that Bihar had to transcend caste if it was to grow. Nitish Kumar and the Rise of Bihar is a clear-sighted study of Indian electoral politics that unfolds with the pace of a political drama, offering hard facts and an incisive analysis of the state's turbulent trajectory. Sinha steers the narrative deftly through the complex groupings of Bihar's political arena to reveal Nitish Kumar's acumen in bringing law and order, roads, education and health to the fore of governance. From feudal politics to caste identities, and finally to development Bihar could prove to be the model for India's post-Independence journey.
Last Among Equals eschews the usual sweeping narratives of national and state politics, reaching instead for the 'swirling, vivid sub-narratives that escape easy categorisations', the darkness of the material leavened with deep empathy. The result is a captivating, often searing narrative of how lives are lived in the villages of Bihar--and indeed in much of India.
The Bihar state is a wonderful example of natural; cultural; political and intellectual prosperity as well as dense diversity of the geographical structure. The land of Bihar; full of glorious past and inspirational traditions; has the distinction of being the birthplace and workplace of great personalities. The presented book provides complete and comprehensive information about Bihar. Comprising 38 chapters; it not only analyzes the historical; geographical; political; social; cultural; and economic conditions of the state in detail; but it also presents limitless possibilities of future development. The logical and interesting presentation of the visible progress and change in Bihar presently; makes it unique. This book is completely useful and readable; not only from the point of view of the candidates; but also for the guidance of research students; teachers and readers. Major Highlights of Bihar General Knowledge • Freedom Movement and Separate Bihar Movement • Art and Culture • Major Personalities • Agriculture and Irrigation • Population and Domicile • Tourism and Disaster Management • Major Commissions • Local Self Governance • Economic Indices • Poverty and Unemployment • State Policies and Industrial Policies • Start-up Policy; 2017 • Information and Communication Technology Policy; 2011 • Bihar Advertisement Policy; 2016 • Bihar Right to Public Services Act; 2011 • Bihar Agricultural Land (Conversion for Non-Agriculture Purposes) Act; 2010 • Bihar Right to Public Grievance Redressal Act; 2015 • Bihar Prohibition and Excise Act; 2016 • Economic Survey 2020-21 and Bihar Budget 2021-22 • Effects of Partition • Demand of Special Status for the State • Economic Backwardness and Potential of Growth • Good Governance and Seven Resolutions • Bihar Foundation Day • Statistical Presentation
This book presents the state-specific dimensions of the governance of higher education in Bihar, India, based on a real-case perspective. It discusses the policies of the center and state governments, and their implications on the state's higher education system. It addresses the issues and challenges faced by the higher education sector from the point of view of multiple stakeholders at center, state, university and college levels, while examining influential power centers. The volume focuses on select universities in the state and looks at how they manage policies, schemes and regulations. It deals with key themes such as the role of state and regulatory bodies such as the University Grants Commission; the balance of power; resource scarcity; the inadequacy of top-down governance models; governance failure; and the autonomy of universities. It explores the conflict between the politics and economics of governance and efficiency; the promotion and recruitment of senior office-bearers and teachers; the privatization of colleges; and financing, admission and examination systems. Through an in-depth study using empirical unit-level data from the All-India Survey of Higher Education, examples and theoretical frameworks, the book analyzes the reasons for the underperformance of the governance system of higher education in Bihar. It also offers suggestions and policy recommendations to help improve its planning and management via participative and responsible governance and informed institutional leadership. This book will be of interest to students, teachers and researchers of education, higher education, economics, governance and public administration, and development studies. It will also be useful to educationists and experts, education administrators, policymakers, bureaucrats and the governing bodies of higher education institutions.
I am Konhaiya Kumar, native of Bihar. I am doing PhD on a very important subject "Mating habits of gay chimpanzees in South Africa" at PANU university, the best university in India and possibly the best university in the world. My idols are "Faizal Guru," "Janab Kasab Sahib," "Focus Carat," "Baba Badkar" and all PhD students who had committed suicide since they failed to solve their PhD problems. I personally feel that, all deprived Indians should automatically be awarded a PhD degree coupled with a free pension of 1 lakh rupees/ month to be delivered in cash via post at door step. Till then we are going to fight for azaadi from India. Imagine a day, when no PhD student would have to commit suicide, imagine a day, when no lower caste will be humiliated by upper caste, s/he can use his/her doctorate degree and force others to call him/her Dr. X, Dr. Y, etc. Imagine a day, when all deprived people can take part in active politics and "Make Communism Great Again" thanks to my "one lakh per month" pension idea. Bhagat Singh said, "It is easy to kill individuals, but you cannot kill ideas." I do not know where this book will take me, but I think it will be used as a text book in my PANU university. In this book, I describe my life from childhood to stardom, my experiences with both deprived and upper caste people, I also describe the inhuman condition of Tihar Jail in details. I lost my virginity in Tihar jail. I also provide feasible solutions to all burning problems of India. I am hoping that, government of India will buy few thousands copies of my books and distribute among all civil servants so that they can use my solutions to solve the problems that they face while working for people of India. If my solutions are found useful, I would not mind getting "Bharat Ratna" for myself. I love #AdarshLiberal people, I hate right wing #Bhakts! After I have become famous in India and whole world, so far, rightwing #Bhakts have thrown 5 right leg slippers at me. I would request them to throw both slippers so that I can make use of them.
