Prashant Kishor is misleading, Norway and Sweden are heavily industrialised nations, and Bihar needs industries too
Election strategist and the founder of the Jan Suraj Party, Prashant Kishor, recently claimed in an interview with ANI, that industrialisation of Bihar will not stop migration of locals seeking employment opportunities in other states. Ironically, to back his statement, Kishor cited countries like Finland, Sweden and Norway, claiming that these countries do not have any major industries and yet they have highly developed economies. “Industrialisation will not prevent migration,” Kishor claimed.
“In an economy like Bihar, no big industrial parks can be set up. Firstly, we are landlocked, and, secondly, we have more population density. In the first phase, we have to boost up our education and service sectors, we have to provide good education to kids, and we have to provide more resources in the hands of people so that people are able to do something on their own. People here (in Bihar) are industrious and hard working,” Kishor added implying that industries can only be set up in coastal states.
He claimed that setting up a few industries will not solve the problem of migration in Bihar. “Migration from Bihar will stop when people have access to education along with resources and a conducive environment to work,” said Kishor, adding that this is the idea of a welfare economy. He didn’t say where the jobs are to come from, if not from industries.
When prodded by the interviewer, Kishore offered a bizarre logic. He said, In Delhi, most workers doing construction work are from Bihar. When Bihar has money, these people won’t have to come to Delhi, they would do building fittings, plasterings and other work right there in Bihar.
At this point the interviewer Naveen Kapoor interrupted Kishore, highlighting that not just construction workers, but many high level professionals in every company are also from Bihar. However, Kishore was fixed in his narrative. He insisted that an Adani putting up a factory in Bihar won’t help the people, because there will only be a limited number of jobs available. Instead, the state should focus on education and agriculture, as per Kishore. But he offered no explanation as to where would the jobs come from to employ all these ‘educated’ people.
Why Kishor is wrong about industrialisation in Bihar
While Kishor rightly pointed out the problem of migration in Bihar, his argument that industrialisation of Bihar will not be able to prevent migration does not hold water. Bihar’s migration problem directly arises from the lack of employment opportunities in the state which has resulted from decades of neglect and throttling of local small-scale industries by previous Congress and RJD governments.
Younger generations, who have known Bihar only as a labour exporting state, might find it hard to believe that the state once had numerous local industries, which not only generated employment but were hubs of local crafts and products. The lack of coastal advantage did not stop Bihar from being one of the most industrialised states of the country a few decades back.
To name a few, there was a thriving muslin industry in Madhubani, clothes industry in Dulalganj and paper industry in Kishanganj. Darbhanga was once the main production centre for ivory products. Areas like Khagaria and Kishanganj were known for brass and bronze utensils. Bhagalpur was famous for silk and Munger for horseshoes, stoves and shoes. Purnia was famous for vermilion production and export along with tent house products. Besides, there also existed glass, cement, tobacco, paper and pulp, blanket, and utensil industries in various districts of the state.
According to a data, out of 6982 registered factories across the whole country in 1951, 455 were in Bihar, which accounted for 6.51% of the registered factories in the whole of India. After independence, there were 56 sugar mills in the whole country. Out of these, 33 were in Bihar in areas including Sakri, Rayam, Lohat.
However, the during the Congress regime in the state, local industries in Bihar gradually died due to adverse policies of the government. The Congress government’s policies like the Freight Equalisation encouraged industrialists to use Bihar’s mineral resources and set up industries outside. The situation worsened during Lalu Prasad Yadav’s Jungle Raj when he openly declared that the agenda of his government is not development but ‘social justice’. The cumulative effect of the policies of the Congress and the RJD governments was that the local industries in the state were entirely uprooted, pushing the state into a dark unending period of poverty.
The primary reason for the migration of people from Bihar is the lack of jobs in the state. Poverty and lack of education further aggravate the problem. Since most of the locals migrating from the state are not educated, they are compelled to work as unskilled, or semi skilled labourers in other states. The scale at which employment generation is required to prevent the outflux of locals from Bihar is only possible through establishment of industries. Therefore, Kishor’s claim that industrialisation will not prevent migration from Bihar is not right. Besides, his logic behind Bihar not being conducive for industrialisation because of being ‘landlocked’ is preposterous as a coastal boundary is not a prerequisite for all kinds of industries. In this age of modern transports, railways and waterways, there is no reason a ‘landlocked’ state should give up on industrialisation and stay undeveloped.
Kishor’s proposal for the development of Bihar was that people should be provided education and ‘resources’ so that they can “do something on their own”. However, he did not explain how his proposed plan is to be implemented and how people with no resources will suddenly have resources to ‘do something on their own.’
The industry-driven economies of Norway, Sweden, Finland and others
To back his argument that industrialisation is not required for creating employment opportunities in Bihar, Prashant Kishor cited the examples of countries like New Zealand, Norway, Sweden, Finland and others. He claimed that none of these countries have any major industries and yet these countries are highly developed. Kishor’s claims about these countries not having major industries are entirely false as these countries have thriving industries contributing considerably to their GDPs.
Though none of the countries mentioned by Kishor are comparable to Bihar in terms of population as well as geography, let’s take a look at industrial and manufacturing sectors in these countries and their contribution in their respective economies:
Finland
Finland has highly industrialised economy having a variety of industries like agriculture, manufacturing, refining, and services. Other major sectors in the Finnish industry are chemicals, metal, biotechnology and cleantech. The electronic industry of the country is a key contributor in its economy. Nokia was born in Finland. The country invests generously in research and development which has hugely benefited its electronic industry. Besides, Finland also has robust shipbuilding, motor and chemical industries. Finland’s industry sector contributed to around 24% in the country’s GDP in 2023.
Norway
Norway, which is among the top five countries with highest per capita income, has a variety of major industries, including petroleum/oil production, hydro-power, aquaculture, shipping and tourism. Norway’s industry sector, including manufacturing and construction, contributes approximately 39% to the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP). After the Middle Eastern countries, Norway is one of the largest oil and gas producers in the world and this industry accounts for almost half of the country’s total exports. Norway also houses some of the biggest names in the shipbuilding and shipping services industry. Companies like Wilhelmsen and DNV are top global players in maritime transport, Norsk Hydro and others are major names in aluminium and renewable energy while Telenor is a major name in the Telecommunications industry.
Sweden
Sweden, one of the richest countries in Europe, is largely dependent on manufacturing. It has diverse industries including agriculture, tourism, and finance. Sweden’s industrial sector, including manufacturing, mining and utilities contributes approximately 18.57% to the country’s GDP in 2023. The country has an export-oriented manufacturing. Automotive sector is the largest sector of manufacturing industry in Sweden, which accounts for about half of the industrial value-added. Swedish automakers like Saab and Volvo are globally recognised. The country also has a developed aerospace sector. Swedish exports of finished goods include engineering products like telecommunication equipment, hydroelectric power plant equipment and cars. Sweden is also a global leader in production of specialty steel and mining, with companies like SSAB and LKAB.
New Zealand
Even though service sector accounts for a large part of New Zealand’s GDP, the country has industries, including agricultural and horticulture sector, mining, and fishing. New Zealand has a rich natural reservoir of natural resources, including deposits of iron ore, silver, coal, gold, and limestone. The important industries in New Zealand, include food processing, metal fabrication, wood and paper products, and aluminium production, apart from a major construction sector. In recent years, New Zealand’s manufacturing industry has accounted for 8-14% of its GDP. Moreover, New Zealand’s population is a mere 5.5 million. Bihar has over 13 crore people, 25-30 times more than New Zealand. Hence, to claim that Bihar does not need industrialisation is not only callous and careless misinformation, but hints at another political campaign based on hollow ideas of ‘socialism’ under the garb of ‘new’ politics.
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