BIMARU (Hindustani: Hindi: बीमारू, Urdu: بیمارو Bīmārū) is an acronym, coined by demographer Ashish Bose in mid-1980s, formed from the first letters of names of some states, namely Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, and Uttar Pradesh. BIMARU in Hindustani, bīmār (बीमार, بیمار), denotes "sick" states referring to the poor economic conditions of these states. The acronym has also been used as a pejorative for the people originating from these states. BIMARU states are low on HDI & food security. The present-day states of Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand and Uttarakhand were part of Madhya Pradesh, Bihar and Uttar Pradesh, respectively, when the BIMARU acronym was coined. All of these are in the Hindi Belt, which also has relatively richer non-BIMARU states, such as Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Delhi, Chandigarh and Uttarakhand.
Madhya Pradesh, once labelled a BIMARU state, has seen tremendous growth, especially in its agricultural sector, and has quadrupled its GDP between 2011 and 2024.[1] Uttarakhand, after it was split from Uttar Pradesh and made a separate state, has made sufficient progress to get out of the BIMARU category. Rajasthan is next in order for coming out of BIMARU group but they still have a lot to do. Chhattisgarh falls in the middle category of Human Development Index. Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and Jharkhand are lagging behind. During 2008–2011, some of BIMARU states had higher growth rate and some of their natives argued that the BIMARU concept was outdated, but in reality these states have a low economic base and thus despite higher rate of growth they remain much poorer than other states.[2] [3] [4] The concept has re-emerged due to the faltering growth rates of the states.[5] [6]
BIMARU states are usually net negative providers of food security, i.e. they consume more food than they produce. Hence, these states are major consumers of India's PDS for food redistribution. The much smaller but richer states of Haryana & Punjab are massive providers of food security to India as they provide 60-80% of wheat & 28-44% of rice of India's total PDS.[7]
In the mid-1980s, economic analyst Ashish Bose coined an acronym BIMARU, in a paper submitted to then Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi.[8] Several studies, including those by the UN, showed that the performance of the BIMARU states affected the GDP growth rate of India.[9] [10]
Uttarakhand is now a relatively-developed state and is no longer in the BIMARU category because of its economic growth,[11] education,[12] healthcare[13] and more when compared with the other states formed. Uttarakhand is the only state for which all the districts are in the category of top 25% HDI districts.[14] Dehradun, the winter capital of Uttarakhand, is known for its good quality education and also hosts the top schools in the country. It is also known as the school capital of India.[15] The state also hosts top schools of the country in its other cities[16] as well with a number of higher education institutes, notable being Garhwal University, Kumaon University, an IIT at Roorkee and an NIT at Srinagar, Uttarakhand.[16]
In recent times, some of the states have experienced high growth rates, but they still lag behind the more developed states. Madhya Pradesh was second in the United Nations GDP development ranking's with a record of 225%.[17] Bihar's GDP grew by 80% from 2006 to 2007, which was higher than in the two prior years, which was one of the highest recorded by the Government of India for that period. They have laid greater emphasis on education and learning by appointing more teachers and opening a software park. Bihar and Uttar Pradesh contribute significantly to the Indian Army, Central Industrial Security Force, Border Security Force, National Security Guard, Indian Air Force and many paramilitary forces because of their large young populations. Recently, these states are working for their improvement by developing infrastructures, IT-parks and giving a better invitation to the businessmen for investment.
The BIMARU states have some of the highest fertility rates in India. In 2010, the total fertility rate was 3.9 for Bihar, 3.5 for Uttar Pradesh, 3.2 for Madhya Pradesh and 3.1 for Rajasthan, compared to 2.5 for India as a whole. That has led to higher population growth in these states than rest of India.[18]
The literacy rates in the BIMARU states, according to the 2011 census are Bihar (63.8%), Rajasthan (67.1%), Jharkhand (67.6%), Madhya Pradesh (70.6%) and Uttar Pradesh (71.7%). The national average is 74.04%. Those states trail the national average in the current literacy rate they are registering very healthy growth rates in literacy and comfortably outpace states like Andhra Pradesh (67.7%) and Chhattisgarh (71%), which have comparable literacy levels except for Rajasthan.
A recent survey by the National University of Educational Planning and Administration (UNEPA) has determined that only 21% of all primary school teachers in Bihar and 12.8% in UP are Matriculates or lower.
Renowned educationists have asked for a complete overhaul of the educational system, particularly at the primary level.[19]
The life expectancy in the BIMARU states is lower than other Indian states and is lower than the average life expectancy of India as a whole. That implies that that they bring down the overall average.[20]
Corruption remains one of the key factors reflecting poverty levels throughout the world. and the states generally fare worse in the corruption indexes that are published.[21]
It is one of the enigmas that in spite of the large representation in the Indian Parliament, the states cannot get adequate resources for their development.[22]
Another factor determining the BIMARU states' economic situation is the lack of investment in irrigation and flood control. In spite of the highest incidence of floods in the region, the investment to manage this has been rather meager. Even though the socialist era in India was known for large infrastructure projects, the most modern irrigation system of Bihar is the British-built Son Command Canal System, which was opened for use in the 1890s. That is in sharp contrast to projects like Bhakra Nangal Dam in Punjab.
Yet another factor is the lack of perspective in the planning exercise. For example, even though large portions of the national highway schemes like the Golden Quadrilateral and the East-West Corridor pass through the so-called BIMARU states, their alignment would not serve the population of those states. Also, there is no provision even for by-passes to serve towns such as Ranchi, Patna, Dhanbad, Gaya or Jamshedpur.
Since 2000, there has also been a change in the geographic composition of the states, with Bihar being divided into Bihar and Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh being divided into Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh and Uttar Pradesh being divided into Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand.