BIMARU

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BIMARU is an acronym created from the first syllables of the names of the four large north Indian states of Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, and Uttar Pradesh.

Noted Indian demographer Ashish Bose coined the term BIMARU in the 1980s to highlight the 'sickness' of the states in India's 'Hindi belt' compared to the rest of India. The acronym "BIMARU" was coined with a purpose: the word "Bimaar" in Hindi means "sick"; the acronym "BIMARU" brings forth images of debilitation and lack of progress, which were characterized as being hallmarks of the states named above.

Some ailments

The BIMARU states are distinct from India's other states on a number of social and economic indicators:

much higher than average population growth rates;
much lower than average literacy rates;
much lower than average ratings on nearly all health-care indices such as malnutrition and infant mortality;
slower than average economic growth rates.

The differences in economic and population growth rates between the BIMARU states and other Indian states, particularly the prosperous states of South India, sharpened over the 1990s. The economy of the four BIMARU states grew at an average of 4.6% per year in the 1990s, compared to 6.5% per year for India as a whole. Since population growth in the BIMARU states was much higher that the Indian average, the income disparity between the BIMARU states and India as a whole also increased.

During the 1990s, the economic growth rates of the BIMARU states diverged somewhat; Rajasthan showed a faster economic growth rate than the other states, as did Madhya Pradesh. Other non-BIMARU states, like Orissa, showed slow economic growth during the same period.

Since 1990, there has also been a change in the geographic composition of these states, with Bihar being bifurcated into Bihar and Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh being bifurcated into Madhya Pradesh and Chattisgarh and Uttar Pradesh being bifurcated into Uttar Pradesh and Uttaranchal.

External link

Jeffrey D. Sachs, Nirupam Bajpai, and Ananthi Ramiah. "Understanding Regional Economic Growth in India". CID Working Paper No. 88, March 2002. Center for International Development at Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts. [link]

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