The National Democratic Alliance (NDA) and the grand alliance (Mahagathbandhan) are gearing up to face each other in the Bihar Assembly elections. Voting is scheduled for November 6 and 11, with results announced on November 14. An indicator-based analysis of the state shows that it ranks somewhere near the bottom on most economic and social measures.
The table below shows the ranking of Bihar in various social indicators and the score for each parameter in 2019-21, 2015-16 and 2005-06. It also lists the scores of the three highest-ranked states for each parameter.
During 2019-2021, only 61% of Bihar’s female population had ever attended school. This makes it the state with the second lowest share among the 29 states whose data we considered for this parameter. Similarly, 41% of women (20-24 years) in Bihar married under 18 years. The state ranks second among the 29 states on this parameter.
Bihar’s ranking in health indicators paints a bleak picture. While the infant mortality rate in India was 35.2 (the infant mortality rate is the number of infant deaths per 1,000 live births), in Bihar it was noticeably higher at 46.8. The state also had the lowest percentage of the population using improved sanitation; and the highest percentage of underweight children in 2019-2021. Even in some indicators where the state did not do so badly in 2015-2016, its position fell to the bottom level in 2019-2021. For example, in terms of the percentage of neglected children (underweight for their height), Bihar ranked 20th out of 29 states in 2015-2016, and 27th in 2019-2021.
Notably, in all health and women empowerment indicators mentioned in the table, Bihar has never been among the top 15 ranked states during 2005-06, 2015-16 or 2019-21. In fact, the state has only declined in consecutive years on most indicators.
The Human Development Index (HDI) is a score created by the UNDP to rate a nation or sub-nation based on its lifespan, access to knowledge and standard of living. India’s average HDI score was 0.644 as of 2022, while Bihar’s was 0.609. In this measure, Bihar ranked last among the 27 states that had data in 2022. Goa ranked first with a score of 0.791, while Kerala ranked second with a score of 0.789.
The table below shows the ranking of Bihar in terms of Human Development Index
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