From Worst to near First

For centuries, the northern Indian state of Bihar has been plunging downhill. Once the seat of one of the world's greatest empires, the state was first devastated by colonial policies that enshrined feudal landlords, then shunned by a succession of Indian governments, and finally riven and destroyed when the seeds of caste and class conflict matured into a small-scale civil war in the 1970s. By the 1990s, brazen and deadly highway robberies put an end to travelling after nightfall, and as business activity plummeted, kidnapping for ransom was declared the state's only growth industry. The state, had failed, 'epic-ly'. Institutions collapsed, and law and order came to a grinding halt.

However, this state, led by Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, has posted some stunning statistics this January. Despite the 2008/09 economic crisis and three years of draughts and floods, Bihar posted 11 percent average annual economic growth, making it the second-fastest-growing state in India and the second-hottest major economy in the world after China. The administration has transformed the once impassable badlands into 6800 kilometres of roads, 1600 bridges and culverts and shortened average journey time by half. Crimes by roving bandits fell rapidly from 1297 to 640, and kidnappings for ransom dropped from 411 to 66 between 2004 and 2008, prompting the rise of foreign tourists from 95000 to 365000 annually.

Under Nitish Kumar, things have dramatically improved. This state is the perfect role model for other states that are struggling with the same issues.

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