Senses Report - History

The history of the land mass currently known as Bihar is very ancient. In fact, it extends to the very dawn of human civilization. Earliest myths and legends of Hinduism the Sanatana (Eternal) Dharma - are associated with Bihar. Sita, the consort of Lord Rama, was a princess of Bihar. It was here that Prince Gautam attained enlightenment, became the Buddha- at the present Bodh Gaya- a town in central Bihar; and the great religion of Buddhism was born. It is here also that Lord Mahavira, the founder of another great religion, Jainism, was born and attained nirvana (death). The tenth and last Guru of the Sikhs, Guru Gobind Singh was born and attained the sainthood of Sikhism, that is became a Guru.

Bihar, the ancient land of Buddha, has witnessed golden period of Indian history. It is the same land where the seeds of the first republic were sown and which cultivated the first crop of democracy. Such fertile is the soil that has given birth to innumerous intellectuals, which spread the light of knowledge and wisdom not only in the country but also in the whole world. The state has its capital at Patna, which is situated on the bank of the holy river Ganga. The state as it is today has been shaped from its partition from the province of Bengal and most recently after the separation of the tribal southern region now called Jharkhand.

Bihar is located in the eastern part of the country (between 83°-30' to 88°-00' longitude). It is an entirely land–locked state, although the outlet to the sea through the port of Kolkata is not far away. Bihar lies mid-way between the humid West Bengal in the east and the sub humid Uttar Pradesh in the west which provides it with a transitional position in respect of climate, economy and culture. It is bounded by Nepal in the north and by Jharkhand in the south. The Bihar plain is divided into two unequal halves by the river Ganga that flows through the middle from west to east.

Demography

In the last decade (1991-2001), the growth of population in Bihar has increased roughly by 5 percentage points, being 28.43 percent as against 21.34 percent in 3 India. The state of Bihar now contains 8.07 percent of the country’s population according to the provisional population results.

Health

The RCH II study done in between 2002-2004 suggests that neonatal death is 63.2 per thousand. Within that the early neonatal death is 43%.

Both neonatal mortality as well as early neonatal mortality shows 39 and 27 respectively, which perhaps could be a resultant of poor availability of infrastructure.

As against the country average of 31.8, Bihar has 8.9 with staff being only 17.4, supply as 11.4 and equipments as 6.2 with this grim picture it is inevitable that the 5 maternal and child health in the State is in jeopardy. However the present government is working very hard to change the situation by bringing in new and favorable health policies. The other health indicators such as Complete Immunization coverage show only 24.4 though it is almost double the figure from 2002. However it is still very far from the national average of 47.6 with Tamil Nadu having 92.1

The average infant mortality rate as per 2001 record shows as 62 with rural being 63 and urban as 52. The gender gap in IMR in rural is 12% as against 7% in the urban areas.

The mean age at marriage of female show 17.4% with 51.4% of the girls getting married below 18yrs. The institutional delivery record show 5.4% only at government hospital with as high as 76.8% home delivery of which only 29.5% of the deliveries are by skilled persons according to the RCH II survey.

Education

Modern Bihar has a grossly inadequate educational infrastructure creating a huge mismatch between demand and supply. This problem is further compounded by increases in population. The craving for higher education among the general population of Bihar has led to a massive migration of the student community from the state. This has led to a "flooding" of students to seek educational opportunities in other states, such as New Delhi, Karnataka and Maharashtra even for graduation level college education.

In spite of the meager investment on education in Bihar, compared to other poorer Indian states, owing to class based reservation (of which Bihar's Pupils have been the main beneficiaries) the students have as a result done very well. Famed national institutes of learning such as IIT, IIM, NITs, AIIMS and JNU have always had a good representation from Bihar. There is also thought to be growing discontentment among students of other classes who claim however that pure merit has taken a back seat in the nation's education system as a result of giving reservation to people of backward classes. Other institutions of higher learning, and coveted positions in the government also show a greater share than the percentage of their population. A recent survey by Pratham rated the absorption of their teaching by the Bihar children better than those in other states.

Current Status of Disability

As per WHO estimate it is approximately 10% of the total population who suffer from some or other kind of disabilities. However as per the Census 2001the total disabled population in the State of Bihar is 18,87,611, which ranks as the number one in the country and approximately 3.2% of the total population. Within this the rural total is 16,92,454, which is approximately 90% of the population. The total disabled male population is 11,31,526 as against the female population of 7,56,085. Category wise the percentage of visual handicapped is 53% followed by locomotors disability, which is 27%. The speech and hearing together accounts to 11% of the disabled population whereas the intellectual handicapped accounts to 9% of the population.

Policy Statements

concept of the evolving capacities of the PwDs will be the central theme. The policy document carries three key implications:

Firstly, it is a developmental concept, recognizing the extent to which Persons with Disability’s development, competence and emerging personal autonomy are enhanced through the realization of the various agreed national & international Conventions and program– it imposes obligations on States to promote and ensure these rights;

Secondly, it is an emancipatory concept denoting the rights of Persons with Disability to respect for their capacities and for the transfer of the exercise of rights from various facets of society to the Persons with Disability in accordance with their levels of competence – it imposes obligations on States to respect these rights;

The broad objectives of the Comprehensive Disability Policy Framework include:

The facilitation of the inclusion of disability rights, values and practices into government developmental strategies, planning and programs;

The development of an integrated management system for the coordination of disability planning, implementation and monitoring in the various line functions at all spheres of government;

Establishing of state and subsequent district structures such as State Integrated Disability & Rehabilitation Program that will continuously update and link strategy & policy developments with operational planning initiatives involving all role-players (DPOs, government, the private sector).

The development of capacity building strategies that will enhance Government's ability at all levels to implement recommendations contained in the Comprehensive Disability Policy Framework.

A comprehensive plan of action that will include in addition to Programme planning, a strong public education and awareness-raising program aimed at changing fundamental prejudices in society.