When the Rupee Falls and Everyone Pretends Not to Notice

See All News by Ravish Kumar

What kind of music plays in your head when you look at the Indian rupee today? Sad music… or dance music?
Because the Election Commission recently posted a video telling stressed BLOs to dance — even as many of them are dying on duty. So should we listen to dance beats while the rupee collapses? Or sad violins?

Why is no one asking why the rupee is falling so badly? And if the rupee is in such terrible condition, what must be happening to the common citizen? What does the future hold for this currency, for you, for the country? There is silence everywhere.

Every day a small headline appears:
“Rupee hits all-time low.”
But beyond that—no explanation, no debate, no accountability.

The Prime Minister says, “Enjoy the weather.”
Meanwhile the rupee keeps sliding. Why tell people to enjoy the weather? To distract them from the economic storm? After all, he once said that a falling rupee reflects a weak Prime Minister and declining national prestige. So what does the rupee’s current free fall say?

The dollar strengthens, the rupee weakens.
Indian traders exporting and importing goods can’t absorb this blow. Even the government faces rising costs. Yet Delhi remains silent.

Look around: Nepal’s currency is stable. Bangladesh? No problem. Pakistan? No major shock. Sri Lanka? Even after its crisis, their currency isn’t plunging like ours.
Why is India alone sinking?

And let me say this clearly: this is not just economics. Corrupt politics from Delhi plays a huge role. It’s a serious allegation, but someone has to say it.

We are told we have the “strongest Prime Minister ever,” yet the rupee has fallen 4.6% in a single year — the steepest in Asia. The worst-performing currency in the entire region is the Indian rupee. Where do we go to ask questions?

Shall we call Nehru?
During his tenure, one dollar was worth ₹4.
And today? ₹89.41.

Who will explain this historic weakening?

But instead of an explanation, we are told to enjoy the weather. Why not enjoy the rupee too? Why not laugh at all-time lows? Why not celebrate that India now has the weakest currency in Asia?

Not just against the dollar — but also the euro, the pound, the yuan, and the yen.
1 euro recently crossed ₹145.
1 dollar: weaker by ₹5 in a single year.
1 pound: around ₹115.

Is this “prestige”? Is this “global leadership”?

GDP numbers come — 8.2%.
Celebrations erupt. Tweets everywhere.

But 80 crore people survive on free rations. Millions will sell their vote for ₹10,000. How can a country with such poverty also have “the world’s fastest-growing economy”?

If GDP is booming and inflation is low, why is the rupee not strengthening? Why are foreign investors withdrawing billions? Why is the RBI unable to defend the currency?

Now a new theory is being pushed:
“We want a weaker rupee. If the rupee falls to 90, imports will reduce and the trade deficit will shrink.”

Amazing logic.
As if industries import raw materials by checking the rupee–dollar rate on a calculator. If you stop importing essential goods, production stops. How does that help?

But logic is optional when voters are given free rations and occasional cash transfers. People don’t ask questions when they are struggling to survive.

If the government truly believes the rupee’s fall is good, let them explain it in Parliament. They win every election anyway. What stops them from answering?

Look at 2013. When the rupee touched 63, there was national outrage. Tea stall experts became overnight currency analysts. Today at 89, everyone is smiling in photos and saying, “Enjoy the weather.”

Foreign investors pulled out ₹4,000 crore in just two days recently. But no prime-time debate. No screaming anchors. No accountability.

Why?
Because institutions now have weak leadership installed everywhere.
No one will question.
No one will investigate.

Meanwhile, the Prime Minister speaks endlessly — but not about the rupee, not about electoral irregularities, not about the deaths of BLOs, not about rising foreign investment outflows. Religious events get attention, spiritual messages get attention, mythology gets attention — everything except the economy.

The media has ensured the public stops thinking.
Opposition leaders have doors slammed shut across TV channels.
Only tweets, reels, and YouTube remain.
And even those barely reach people.

Economic inequality rises.
Information inequality rises even faster.

Tata’s semiconductor project gets enormous subsidies — ₹44,000 crore, according to reports — and the same company donates ₹750 crore to the ruling party.
Can the opposition match that?
No wonder their voice disappears from Parliament to the streets.

And in this entire noise, the politics of silence around the rupee pushes citizens into a dark tunnel. At the far end of that tunnel, a few of us stand — still trying to warn the public.

India’s rupee has weakened.
It is Asia’s worst-performing currency.
It has fallen against every major global currency.
It has been falling all year.
And the nation is being told to simply enjoy the weather.

Namaskar.
— Ravish Kumar

Tags: Ravish Kumar,Hindi,Video,Indian Politics,

The Election Narrative Trap -- Why “Hard Work” Became the Only Story

See All News by Ravish Kumar

“Bharat Mata ki jai.”
Hello, I’m Ravish Kumar.

If you look at the Bihar election coverage, you’ll notice something strange: the analysis has now overtaken the actual reporting. Bihar has become a case study of how India’s largest media ecosystem can manufacture, magnify, and then mandate a single storyline — that the BJP won purely through “hard work.”

This framing is not innocent. It is not accidental. It is a tactic.

The Manufactured Myth of “Hard Work”

Across the “Godi Media” landscape, one theme dominates: mehnat.
BJP’s mehnat. BJP leaders’ mehnat. BJP workers’ mehnat.

But this excessive celebration of “hard work” seems designed to achieve one thing: drown out and delegitimize questions raised in other states — about alleged voter list manipulation, inflated booth turnout, missing CCTV footage, and the Election Commission’s opaque functioning.

The moment Bihar’s results were declared, the media declared:
“See? No voter fraud. No SIR issue. No irregularities. Everything was smooth.”

In two lines, the Election Commission’s role was dismissed.
In zero lines, the structural imbalance in resources was addressed.
In hours, the “hard work” narrative became the only permissible analysis.

What About the Ministers’ Real Hard Work?

Names like Dharmendra Pradhan and Bhupendra Yadav were repeatedly praised for their campaign efforts.

But Pradhan is the Education Minister — should we not evaluate his “hard work” by the state of India’s universities?

But Yadav is the Environment Minister — should we not evaluate his “hard work” by the quality of the air Indians breathe?

Why does their “hard work” become visible only during elections?

The Pollution Question the Media Never Asks

Delhi’s air is poison. Everyone can feel it.

But if BJP were to win Delhi tomorrow, would pollution suddenly stop being an issue?

Media never made pollution an issue anyway. There was no sustained questioning of accountability, no tough reporting — only silence.

The silence is the real scandal.

The Terror Attack That Became a Non-Issue

A terror blast took place in Delhi.
For two days, there was no press conference, no naming of Pakistan, no clarity.
New and conflicting phrases were invented: accidental blast, panic blast, hurry blast, error blast.

Confusion was manufactured — accountability was not.

Six days later, NIA finally called it a suicide attack — still without naming a responsible organization.

But even this was turned into:
“Delhi blast is not an election issue.”

Is this journalism?

Or narrative management?

When Media Frames the Election, Not the Facts

Flip through TV debates and you’ll notice the choreography:
four faces, one script.
One speaks softly, one aggressively, one theatrically, one “analytically.”
But all of them arrive at the same destination:
BJP’s hard work won the election.

Where were these reporters when voter lists were being challenged?
Where were they when alleged misuse of welfare schemes was raised?
Where were they when votes increased mysteriously at specific booths after 5 PM?

Nowhere.

The Money the Media Doesn’t Want to Discuss

This “hard work” story also masks a massive imbalance:

• ₹10,000 cash transfers before elections

• World Bank funds allegedly diverted

• ₹30,000 crore mysteriously available for disbursal in a debt-ridden state

• Helicopter hours: NDA 1600+, Mahagathbandhan ~500

• Facebook ad spend: BJP ₹2.75 crore vs Congress ₹7.5 lakh

Is this an even playing field?

Can “hard work” compete with this?

The Maharashtra Precedent the Media Buried

Months ago, in Maharashtra:

• 12,000 booths saw abnormal post-5 PM turnout

• CCTV footage went missing

• 1 crore new voters were added after the Lok Sabha election

• Same coalition that won Lok Sabha got wiped out in Assembly

• EC refused key documents

• Allegations of “industrial-scale” election engineering surfaced

Yet no major channel investigated.
The story died quietly.

The Opposition’s Questions — and Media’s Silence

Rahul Gandhi’s press conferences on alleged voter list fraud required months of preparation, document collection, and data analysis.

But did any mainstream channel highlight that “hard work”?

No.

Instead, the “analysis” focused on:

• how he travels

• how he campaigns

• which soap he uses

This is not journalism.
This is PR.

Why Does Only One Side’s Hard Work Matter?

If BJP’s “hard work” is the reason for victory:

• Did JDU do no hard work?

• Did LJP do no hard work?

• Did AIMIM do no hard work?

• Did Tejashwi’s 170 rallies not count?

• Did opposition parties simply sleep through the election?

The media conveniently glorifies a few BJP leaders while ignoring local BJP workers themselves.

The narrative is not about labor — it is about loyalty.

The Real Question: Was This a Level Playing Field?

Democracy is not merely about who wins —
it is about how they win.

If:

• money is uneven

• media space is uneven

• administrative action is uneven

• cash transfers are uneven

• helicopter access is uneven

• Election Commission scrutiny is uneven

• and coverage of issues is uneven

…then what exactly is equal in this election?

A match played on a tilted field cannot be analyzed solely by praising the winning striker’s “hard work.”

The Media Wants You to Think Only One Thing

“BJP worked hard.
Opposition slept.
EC was perfect.
Everything was fair.”

This is the new consensus they want to manufacture.

Because they know:
People no longer trust them.
They are now seen as BJP’s media partners, not journalists.
The “hard work” narrative is their way of cleansing their own image.

But truth does not disappear just because TV anchors stop saying it.

The Fight for Democracy Requires Honesty

If the opposition wants to fight meaningfully, it must:

• present its evidence

• show its groundwork

• reveal the irregularities

• expose the misuse of welfare systems

• challenge cash transfers

• question helicopter economics

• and communicate directly with the public

If elections are no longer level contests, then the debate about winning and losing is irrelevant.

In the End

Before praising or blaming any political party, ask just one question:

Was the referee fair?

If not, then no amount of “hard work” analysis can explain the result.

India deserves elections that are credible, transparent, and equitable.
Not stories designed to protect institutions, insulate the powerful, and infantilize the public.

And yes — the media’s “hard work” for the BJP also deserves full credit.

Namaskar,
Ravish Kumar

Tags:Indian Politics,Ravish Kumar,Hindi,Video,

Bihar’s Record-Breaking Turnout -- A Democracy Energized or Engineered?

See All News by Ravish Kumar

By Ravish Kumar

What has unfolded in Bihar this election season is unprecedented. Voters have smashed every turnout record since the first general elections of 1951. But what drove this surge? Is Bihar yearning for a transformative change? Or is the electorate fiercely committed to preserving the status quo?

Political experts and researchers will spend years decoding what truly happened here. But one thing is undeniable: this election raises profound questions about the very foundations of Indian democracy.

---

The Women Who Outvoted Men — For the First Time in Absolute Numbers

Much of the discussion revolves around women voters — and rightly so. Bihar’s polling numbers are historic:

• Phase 1:

  • Women: 69.4%

  • Men: 61.56%

• Phase 2:

  • Women: 74.03%

  • Men: 64.1%

For the first time ever, women cast 4.34 lakh more votes than men. More than 3.5 crore women voted. This is not just a statistic — it’s a political earthquake.

Yet this rise in female turnout comes with a troubling question:
Did women vote out of conviction, or as gratitude for money transferred directly into their accounts?

---

40% of Bihar’s Voters Received Government Money Before Polls

Let’s look at what happened just weeks before voting:

• Old-age, disability, and widow pensions were raised from ₹400 to ₹1100. Beneficiaries: 1 crore+

• ₹10,000 transferred each to 1.3 crore women under business-promotion schemes

• Payments to vikas mitras, shiksha mitras, unemployed youth, and others

Add it up — and you realize something startling:

Nearly 40% of all voters received direct cash benefits before the election.

When such a huge chunk of the electorate receives money during the campaign period, can we still call this a fair contest?

---

Is This Empowerment — Or Vote Engineering?

Supporters hail these transfers as welfare. Critics call them “gratitude votes.”

The truth probably lies somewhere in between.

A woman who earns ₹6,000 a month suddenly sees ₹10,000 in her account — a life-changing amount. Expecting her to not feel obliged is unrealistic.

But what does this mean for democracy?

When the state can legally transfer money to millions right before elections, how can the opposition compete? How is the idea of a “level playing field” preserved?

---

Exit Polls, Narratives, and the Battle for Perception

Even before polling ended, exit polls projected an NDA sweep. BJP workers began ordering celebratory laddoos. Claims flew thick and fast:

• “Women voted overwhelmingly for Nitish Kumar.”

• “The increased turnout is a vote for stability.”

• “BJP will cross 160 seats.”

Tejashwi Yadav countered that the turnout represented a powerful urge for change.

Yet the truth is simple:

We have no post-poll data proving women voted overwhelmingly for one side.

What we do have is a massive cash transfer targeted at female voters — and that alone clouds every claim.

---

Has Bihar’s Democracy Become a Cash Economy?

The irony is bitter.

For years, unaccounted cash circulated in Indian elections — under the table, behind closed doors. That corruption hasn’t vanished. But now the state itself has become the largest distributor.

What was once illegal cash distribution has now been institutionalized.

If ₹30,000 crore can be distributed right before the polls, then issues like unemployment, migration, and poverty — Bihar’s deepest wounds — get buried under money.

Where does this path lead?

To a democracy where policy becomes indistinguishable from political bribery.

---

Women's Turnout Was Rising Anyway — Long Before the Cash Transfers

It is important to remember:

• In 2010, women’s turnout: 54.5% (higher than men)

• In 2015, women: 60.4% (men: 53.3%)

• In 2019 LS, women: 59.5% (men: 54.9%)

• In 2020, women: 59.7% (men: 54.6%)

Women have been politically active for a decade. Their turnout was rising regardless of cash transfers.

So why did this particular election cross 70%?

Is it only money?
Is it aspiration?
Is it anger?
Is it hope?

Nobody has a definitive answer.

---

The Opposition’s Failure to Counter the ‘Cash Narrative’

The opposition, too, promised money — sometimes more than the ruling alliance. But it never built a coherent narrative warning women that their votes were being purchased.

Priyanka Gandhi came close when she said:

“Take the ₹10,000 — but vote for your children’s future.”

But one speech cannot match a multi-thousand-crore machinery.

---

The Larger Democratic Crisis

This election signals something far bigger than Bihar:

• Direct cash transfers right before elections are becoming normalized.

• Election campaigns are turning into competitive giveaways.

• The Election Commission is silent.

• Media is complicit.

• Oversight is nonexistent.

The line between welfare and inducement is disappearing.

If a political party can spend ₹30,000 crore before voting, how can faith in electoral fairness survive?

Bihar may have just become the test case for a new kind of democracy — one where votes are not stolen, but bought with taxpayer money.

---

So What Did Bihar Vote For?

Nobody can say for sure — not exit polls, not political parties, not analysts.

But one thing is certain:

When money precedes voting, democracy follows money.

Whether NDA wins or the Mahagathbandhan sweeps — the deeper question remains unanswered:

Has Bihar voted for change?
Or has Bihar been changed by money?

Only time will tell.

Tags: Ravish Kumar,Indian Politics,Hindi,Video,

Finding Ourselves in the Light -- What Zohran Mamdani’s Victory Teaches Us About Faith, Politics, and Courage

See All News by Ravish Kumar

“I will not change how I eat. I will not change the faith I am proud to belong to. But there is one thing I will change — I will no longer look for myself in the shadow. I will find myself in the light.”

With these words, Zohran Mamdani set the tone for what his historic mayoral campaign in New York represents — not just for America, but for democracies around the world where religion is weaponized to divide.

Mamdani’s campaign and triumph answered two age-old questions: Can faith be separated from politics? And more importantly, why must it be?

His win proved that while religion might never be fully absent from politics, the politics of hate in the name of religion can indeed be defeated.

---

A Muslim Candidate Who Refused to Be a “Muslim Candidate”

What makes Zohran Mamdani’s journey remarkable is that he never hid his Muslim identity, nor did he seek votes in its name.

His supporters urged him to stay silent when attacked for being Muslim. But he chose speech over silence. He told New Yorkers — yes, he was a Muslim, but above all, he was a citizen seeking the same dignity and equality every New Yorker deserved.

“I am a Muslim,” he said, “but I am not a Muslim candidate. I want to be a leader who fights for every New Yorker — no matter their skin color, religion, or birthplace.”

That clarity disarmed his opponents. He didn’t run from his identity; he transcended it.

---

The Politics of Dignity vs. The Politics of Fear

For over two decades after 9/11, American Muslims lived under suspicion. Hate was institutionalized — from the airport to the ballot box. Mamdani, a son of immigrants, walked right into that storm.

Opponents painted him as dangerous. Ads funded by billionaires showed his beard exaggerated, his image darkened. TV hosts accused him of wanting to “chair another 9/11.” Others mocked the way he ate.

It was Islamophobia with corporate funding.

Mamdani’s answer was radical — not anger, but empathy. He spoke not just for Muslims, but for all marginalized New Yorkers: the ones who couldn’t afford bus fares, housing, or healthcare.

His campaign revolved around simple, humane issues:

• Free public transport for working-class people.

• Affordable housing in a city where the poor are being pushed farther away.

• Dignity for all, regardless of background.

He reframed the debate — from who belongs to who benefits.

---

Hate Has Billion-Dollar Sponsors

Mamdani pulled the curtain on something most politicians avoid discussing — how corporate money sustains hate.

He named companies that funded his opponent’s Islamophobic propaganda. “They don’t fear my faith,” he said, “they fear fair wages.”

If workers gain power, corporations lose profits. So they distract the public — through hate, fear, and division.

As Mamdani put it:

“The billionaire class seeks to convince those making $30 an hour that their enemies are those earning $20 an hour. They want us to fight each other, so we forget who truly controls the system.”

It’s the same playbook used across the world — including in India.

---

Lessons for India

India’s politics runs on similar fuel.
While millions struggle for food, jobs, and education, leaders keep the nation busy fighting imaginary enemies.
The politics of “send them to Pakistan” and “illegal infiltrators” thrives because it’s easier to inflame hatred than to fix hunger.

Even opposition leaders, fearing electoral backlash, shy away from openly supporting Muslim voices or religious minorities.
They whisper when courage demands they speak.

Mamdani did the opposite — he stood beside Imams in public, he embraced his faith openly, and yet, he never made it his electoral plank.
He showed that the antidote to fear is not silence, but visibility.

His politics wasn’t about Muslims, it was about New Yorkers — and that made all the difference.

---

A New Kind of Campaign: Humanity as Strategy

Mamdani’s campaign turned issues like bus fares into symbols of justice.

New York’s working class — 1.3 million people who commute by bus daily — became central to his vision.
Slow buses meant lost hours, lost wages, and lost dignity.

By fighting for faster, cheaper public transport, Mamdani wasn’t just talking policy — he was talking respect.

He made the working person’s time valuable again.

It’s a politics India’s cities could learn from — where millions commute for hours each day, losing health and hope while leaders argue about faith.

---

Beyond Religion, Beyond Hate

Zohran Mamdani’s victory is more than electoral. It’s moral.

It proved that people can see through billion-dollar propaganda.
That the politics of fear, no matter how powerful, cannot outlast the politics of belonging.
That you can be proud of your faith without turning it into a weapon.

In a world increasingly consumed by division, Mamdani’s campaign feels like the fresh air Ravish Kumar described — the air many nations are still waiting to breathe.

---

The Light We Must Step Into

Zohran Mamdani's line now reads less like a statement and more like a manifesto for our times:

“I will no longer look for myself in the shadow. I will find myself in the light.”

Mamdani found his light — not by abandoning faith or identity, but by refusing to let them be twisted into tools of fear.

The rest of us — in Delhi, in Lucknow, in New York — might ask:
Are we still living in the shadows others built for us?
Or are we ready to walk into the light ourselves?

---

In defeating the politics of hate, Zohran Mamdani hasn’t just changed New York — he’s offered a lesson for the world: the future belongs not to those who divide, but to those who dare to unite.

Tags: Politics,Ravish Kumar,Hindi,Video,

Zohran Mamdani - The Immigrant Who Redefined New York’s Politics

See All News by Ravish Kumar

Image generated using ChatGPT for illustration purpose

New York — the city that never sleeps, where power, money, and dreams collide. Yet in this global capital of capitalism, an unlikely figure has risen to power — Zohran Mamdani, the son of filmmaker Mira Nair and historian Mahmood Mamdani. His victory as New York's mayor has stunned America and inspired millions worldwide.

Who is Zohran Mamdani, and how did he win against the might of billionaires, political lobbies, and hate campaigns?

Mamdani is a politician of conviction — a man who speaks of justice, equality, and dignity for the working class in a city that glorifies wealth. He didn't win by distributing dollars, but by talking about why people remain poor and how the system must change. His victory has been called a “turning point in American democracy,” reminiscent of Jawaharlal Nehru's “tryst with destiny” in 1947 — a moment when a society decides to shed the old and embrace the new.

A Political Awakening in the City of Immigrants

Mamdani's win is more than just a political success; it's a moral statement. In the same country where Donald Trump built his politics on fear and division — especially targeting immigrants — Mamdani, an immigrant himself, won by appealing to hope. He stood for immigrants, workers, and renters, and promised to make the city livable again for ordinary people.

New York is home to people from over 150 countries. It is also a city of contradictions — immense wealth alongside staggering poverty. Mamdani's campaign asked a simple question: why does one of the richest cities in the world have so many people struggling to afford rent, education, or healthcare? His slogans were direct:

• “No more rent hikes.”

• “Free public transport.”

• “Healthcare for all.”

These weren't utopian dreams. They were demands born out of everyday pain.

Fighting Billionaire Power and Hate Politics

The billionaire class united against him. They called him a “communist,” “anti-Israel,” even “dangerous.” Elon Musk mocked him online. Donald Trump went as far as threatening to cut federal funding to New York if Mamdani won. But New Yorkers — tired of political theater — stood by him.

What set Mamdani apart was his honesty. When his opponents tried to link him to terrorism, he smiled and kept talking about bus fares and teacher shortages. When accused of being “anti-Jewish,” he replied calmly:

“New York is home to Jews, Muslims, Christians, everyone. This city belongs to all of us.”

He didn't hide his Muslim identity, nor did he use it to divide. In a world where fear dominates politics, Mamdani's courage became his greatest strength.

The Making of a Global Leader

Mamdani's story is also a story of migration, resilience, and moral inheritance. His father, Mahmood Mamdani, was exiled from Uganda during Idi Amin's rule in 1972. His mother, Mira Nair, chronicled those immigrant struggles in Mississippi Masala and The Namesake. From that family emerged a leader who turned those experiences into political energy — a leader who knows what displacement feels like and what belonging truly means.

Lessons for India and the World

Ravish Kumar, the journalist who first brought this story to the Indian audience, notes how Mamdani's victory echoes far beyond America. He writes that while India's political discourse is trapped in caste and religion, Mamdani won by uniting people around issues that matter: education, rent, transport, and dignity.

In Bihar, for instance, politicians debate handouts instead of job creation. Mamdani's campaign offers a lesson — real change comes not from fear, but from trust, empathy, and clarity of purpose.

A Hopeful Future

Zohran Mamdani's win has become a symbol — proof that progressive politics isn't dead, even in an age of polarization. He defeated Trump-backed billionaires not with anger, but with ideas. He reignited hope among young voters and brought moral clarity back to public life.

In his victory speech, Mamdani said:

“Those hands that built this city, but were told they'd never touch power — today, the future is in their hands.”

That single line captures the essence of his journey — and perhaps, the essence of democracy itself.

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Zohran Mamdani didn't just win an election. He reminded the world that even in the age of billionaires, people still matter.

Tags: Politics,Ravish Kumar,Hindi,Video,

Why Bihar Needs a Ministry of Migration

See All News by Ravish Kumar

Hello, I’m Ravish Kumar.
I have an idea for Bihar’s next government — an unusual one. Instead of pretending to stop migration, why not embrace it? Why not create a Ministry of Migration?

Sounds strange, right? But think about it.
Back in 2004, India created a separate department for Indians living abroad — the Ministry of Non-Resident Indians, later renamed Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs, before being merged with the Ministry of External Affairs in 2016. If the Indian government can care for Indians abroad, then why can’t Bihar care for its own people living outside the state — its NRBs: Non-Resident Biharis?

Every Indian state has its share of Bihari workers. They build roads, run factories, clean cities, and power other states’ economies. Isn’t it time Bihar acknowledged their existence formally — with a dedicated ministry that tracks their welfare, ensures they live in humane conditions, and keeps in touch with them through offices in major cities like Delhi, Surat, or Ludhiana?

Critics will laugh. Some will say the government’s job is to stop migration, not support it.
But look at the reality — no government has ever managed to stop it. Not in 20 years. Even during Nitish Kumar’s so-called “golden years of law and order,” migration soared. Opportunities kept blooming outside Bihar, not within. People continued to leave — for survival, for dignity, for hope.

Migration, therefore, is not Bihar’s Plan B — it’s Plan A.
It’s the state’s most successful export.
And perhaps it’s time to give it the status of an industry.

Imagine this:
First-time migrants get a subsidized train ticket, a suitcase, and a bottle of water from the government.
Families returning home for Chhath or Holi get a travel subsidy — just like big industrialists get subsidies worth crores for setting up factories. If billionaires can get land at discounted prices, why can’t the poor get help to travel for work — their only “industry”?

Because let’s face it — migration is already Bihar’s largest economic activity.
During festivals, when over 1.5 crore people return home, the sheer chaos at railway stations tells the story no economic report can. If Bihar had a Migration Minister, they could plan better — create safe travel corridors, maintain worker registries, ensure safety and dignity, and monitor living conditions in host cities.

Look at how West Bengal’s Chief Minister once sent MPs to protect migrant workers in Gurugram.
If Bengal can care for its migrants, why can’t Bihar?

Bihar’s migrants live in makeshift colonies — often without clean water or toilets — across Indian cities. If the state government simply started tweeting photos of these settlements, the country would see the uncomfortable truth of how “development” really looks for those who build it.

So yes — Bihar needs a Ministry of Migration.
It needs to accept that migration isn’t a failure — it’s a symptom of a broken model.

Because after 20 years of good roads and electricity, why is there still no economic transformation?
Why is every young Bihari still dreaming of leaving home?
Why does the average Bihari student still have to move to Delhi, Kota, or Patna for education?
Why are the hospitals of Delhi and Lucknow filled with patients from Bihar?

Migration is not just about jobs. It’s about education, healthcare, hope, and dignity.

And while caste politics still dominates Bihar’s elections — keeping people divided over old loyalties — the economy remains stagnant. The poor from every caste remain poor. A few elites, contractors, and middlemen thrive, but the rest migrate.

It’s time Bihar starts talking about economic democratization — about land reform, quality education, and meaningful jobs. Because if a state can’t retain its youth, what kind of governance is that?

Until then, let’s stop the pretense.
Let’s recognize migration.
Let’s make it official.

Create a Migration ID Card, a Migration Police, and a Migration Budget.
Let’s treat the migrant not as a failure, but as Bihar’s most hardworking ambassador — a citizen who has built India city by city, brick by brick.

Migration is Bihar’s industry, enterprise, and opportunity.
It’s time the government accepts it — not as shame, but as reality.

So yes — let’s make it official.
Let’s have a Ministry of Migration.
Let’s stop migrating from the truth.

Tags: Indian Politics,Ravish Kumar,Hindi,Video,

The Factory of Development That Produces Poverty : Bihar’s 20-Year Paradox

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Hello, I’m Ravish Kumar.
In Bihar, a factory of “development” is running — but this one produces poverty. It manufactures not prosperity, but laborers ready to migrate. The factory of Bihar’s growth doesn’t create owners; it creates workers for others’ industries.

According to the Bihar government’s own data, over 4 million acres of land lie barren and unused — land that could have been used for industries. This number comes from the state’s Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare Department and only accounts for cultivable land, not private or inhabited plots. Nothing prevents a government from repurposing such land for industrial use. So, when Home Minister Amit Shah says Bihar lacks land for large industries, is that a fact — or a convenient excuse?

Twenty years is a long time. After two decades, if all a state can show are roads and bridges, something fundamental has gone wrong. Roads alone don’t build futures. They are meant to lead to industries, to jobs — not just out of Bihar.

The Land Is There, But the Will Is Missing

The Bihar Industrial Area Development Authority (BIADA) lists 922 acres of land immediately available for industrial use as of May 2025. The state cabinet recently approved the acquisition of 2,600 acres more for new industrial areas, with 1,300 acres earmarked for the Amritsar-Kolkata Industrial Corridor. The Infrastructure Development Authority (IDA) has its own land bank too.

So the question isn’t “Where is the land?”
It’s “Why isn’t it being used for Bihar’s people?”

Two of the most powerful and experienced political figures in India — Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chief Minister Nitish Kumar — have ruled for decades between them. Yet neither has a convincing answer: Why hasn’t Bihar seen industrial growth? Why do its youth still migrate for jobs?

If development meant only law and order and roads, Bihar should have prospered by now. But even after 20 years of both, it remains among India’s poorest states. Perhaps Bihar has not just been left behind — it has been kept poor.

Budget of Excuses

According to the Bihar Industries Association, the state’s industry budget is only 0.62% of its total expenditure. Less than 1%. How can you build factories with such intent? How can a government that refuses to invest even 1% in industry claim there’s “no land”?

Tejashwi Yadav puts it sharply:

“They build factories in Gujarat, but want victories in Bihar.”

Prashant Kishor adds:

“A bullet train for Gujarat, not even a general bogie for Bihar.”

These aren’t mere political jibes — they cut into the very heart of Bihar’s economic injustice.

Two Decades of Power, One State Left Behind

Since 2001, Gujarat has had continuous BJP rule. Narendra Modi served as Chief Minister till 2014. After him, the party changed chief ministers thrice, yet the governance model remained intact. In Bihar, the BJP has also been in or around power for nearly as long — yet the contrast is glaring.

Why has Gujarat been turned into a “model state” while Bihar remains an exporter of cheap labor?

Amit Shah has been the Minister of Cooperation for four years now — a ministry deeply connected with sugar mills and agriculture. Yet, Bihar’s sugar mills remain shut, despite promises made by both the Prime Minister and the Home Minister. In contrast, the opposition claims to have revived at least one mill in Seemanchal.

Even Bihar’s agriculture, once its strength, hasn’t escaped decline. The state’s farmers remain poor despite fertile soil and abundant water — because there’s been no meaningful reform.

Infrastructure Without Industry

Look at the figures:
Between 2005 and 2025, Bihar built over 11,500 km of new roads and thousands of bridges. The state boasts of massive investment — ₹4 lakh crore in roads and bridges, ₹1 lakh crore in rail projects, and several thousand crores in airports.

But who are these projects really for?
If industries never came, who uses these roads?

Infrastructure without industry is a mirage — it creates hope, not jobs. It feeds the cement and steel contractors, not the laborers who migrate from Gaya and Darbhanga to Surat and Delhi.

The Corruption Within

Bihar’s development model has also been hollowed out by corruption. Even as engineers are caught with ₹100 crore in their homes, no real accountability follows. Ministers under investigation are shielded. The chief minister speaks of ethics, but Bihar has come to recognize this as political theatre, not moral leadership.

The 2025 Industrial Package: A Giveaway, Not a Reform

Just before the elections, Nitish Kumar announced the Industrial Investment Promotion Package 2025, promising to give free land to Fortune 500 companies and half-priced land to others.

Think about it:
Amazon, Apple, and Walmart — companies whose turnovers are bigger than Bihar’s entire budget — are being offered free land. What kind of industrial policy gives away scarce public land to global giants, while poor families remain landless?

Why not free land for the poor?
Why not for the young entrepreneurs of Bihar?

The Contradiction of Land

Amit Shah says there’s no land for industries. Yet, Congress alleges that 1,050 acres in Bhagalpur — with 10 lakh fruit trees — were handed to Adani Power at ₹1 per year for 33 years. Farmers protesting the deal were reportedly confined to their homes during the Prime Minister’s visit. So, does land scarcity exist only for some?

The Suitcase Economy

Bihar today lives in a suitcase.
Every Chhath Puja, the entire nation witnesses this — trains and buses overflowing with migrants returning home. Families that left for work in Surat, Noida, or Mumbai, just to return once a year — this is the real face of “Bihar’s development.”

The dignity of Bihar’s workers has been eroded not outside the state — but within it.
A society that normalizes exodus cannot call itself developed.

The Politics of Managed Expectations

When politicians say there is “no land,” what they mean is — there is no will. Bihar has water, fertile land, and intelligent, hardworking people. But it lacks political intent. The goal seems to be managing expectations, not changing realities.

If roads could be built, why not colleges?
If bridges could be made, why not factories?

Even as Bihar’s students top competitive exams nationwide, their home state offers them neither education nor employment. Praise of Bihar’s “intelligence and hard work” rings hollow when it comes from the same leaders who failed to nurture it.

The Unasked Question

If Gujarat can be the “model,” why not Bihar?
If the same party, the same leadership, and the same ideology rule both states — what went wrong in Bihar?

The answer may lie in intent.
Bihar’s story is not of incapacity — it’s of deliberate neglect. The state has been made a supplier of cheap, disciplined labor for India’s industries. Its poverty has become its export.

Conclusion: Beyond Roads and Bridges

Bihar doesn’t need more speeches about its intelligence or its potential. It needs factories, not flyovers; jobs, not just promises. Twenty years of roads and rhetoric cannot hide the truth anymore.

As Amit Shah praises Bihar’s intellect and industry, the real Bihar packs its bags once again — not for a factory job in Patna, but for a construction site in Gujarat.

That’s the story of “development” in Bihar —
A development that builds everything except the future of its people.

— Ravish Kumar