PATNA, Nov. 6 -- Bihar, long labelled as one of India's "BIMARU" states - an acronym coined by demographer Ashish Bose in the 1980s for Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, and Uttar Pradesh - continues to lag behind in urbanisation and development. The term, meaning "sick" in Hindi, encapsulated the structural challenges that persist even today: low literacy, high poverty, and poor industrialisation. While other BIMARU states have gradually shed parts of this stigma through industrial and infrastructural growth, Bihar's progress has been uneven and slow. Stark economic and social disparities remain, and the state continues to depend heavily on agriculture and remittances from its vast migrant workforce. Bihar's urbanisation rate remains among the lowest in India. Between 2001 and 2025, it rose only marginally from 10.5% to 12.4%, even as the national average climbed from 27.9% to 35.7%. According to the Bihar Economic Survey 2023-24, the state's current urbanisation rate stands at 16.2%, up from 11.3% in 2011 but still far below the national average of 31.2%. The slow pace of urban development has restricted industrial growth, limited job creation, and confined a majority of the population to low-income agricultural livelihoods. Youth unemployment and large-scale migration continue to define the state's economy. Bihar's dependence on migration remains striking. With 74.5 lakh outbound migrants (Census 2011), the state ranks second only to Uttar Pradesh. The underlying causes - joblessness, low wages, and lack of industrialisation - have changed little over the years. One of the key structural barriers to urbanisation has been Bihar's absence of a strong industrial base. When Jharkhand was carved out in 2000, Bihar lost most of its mineral resources and industrial hubs. The Freight Equalisation Policy further disincentivised industrial investment, eroding its competitiveness. According to Manjit Singh, associate professor of geography at the Central University of South Bihar (CUSB), Gaya, "Poor connectivity, logistics bottlenecks, erratic power supply, and weak social infrastructure have long stifled industrial and urban growth. Bureaucratic delays and financial constraints have compounded the stagnation." Singh adds that over-dependence on agriculture, coupled with low productivity and fragmented landholdings, has trapped the majority in rural poverty. The scarcity of local employment opportunities fuels migration to other states - a phenomenon he calls "external urbanisation", where Bihar's human capital contributes to the growth of cities elsewhere, rather than within the state. "Bihar figures second last on the human development index, above only Jharkhand," he notes. Urbanisation in Bihar is not just an economic issue - it is deeply political. The state's politics continue to rest on rural and caste-based mobilisation, where agrarian constituencies form the core vote base. According to Ajit Kumar Singh, director (public health) at the Bihar Vidyapeeth, "The expansion of urban areas can disrupt entrenched power structures, weakening rural elites and altering electoral dynamics. The state's politics remain rooted in rural and caste-based mobilisation, where agrarian constituencies form the core vote bank. This reduces the incentive for politicians reliant on rural vote banks to push for rapid urban transformation." The persistence of caste hierarchies and rural networks fosters collective resistance to change. Policies that promote urbanisation risk diluting these traditional power equations, making leaders cautious, Singh said. Social exclusion, poverty, and low literacy further restrain urban mobility, while restrictive definitions of "urban areas" have historically prevented many fast-growing settlements from being officially recognised as towns, added Singh. To address the imbalance, the Bihar government amended the Bihar Municipality Act in 2020, leading to the creation of 119 new urban local bodies (ULBs) and the upgrading of several others. Today, Bihar has 261 ULBs, including 19 municipal corporations, 89 nagar parishads, and 153 nagar panchayats - signalling a growing administrative commitment to urban governance. However, as Manjit Singh observes, "Merely notifying ULBs isn't enough; it must reflect in actual urban growth. Weak finances and heavy dependence on external grants leave most ULBs struggling to deliver even basic services." The major initiatives for infrastructure and planning reforms include Smart City Mission in Patna, Bhagalpur, Biharsharif, and Muzaffarpur; AMRUT (Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation) Mission for infrastructure rejuvenation in 26 towns with over one lakh population; Namami Gange for sewerage management and riverfront development; and the Patna Metro Rail, one of the state's flagship urban projects. In August 2025, the government notified the Bihar Town Planning Scheme Rules, introducing land pooling and district planning authorities to expedite development. Around 80 of the 107 newly created assistant town planning supervisors have been deployed across ULBs to strengthen urban planning capacity. Yet, despite these schemes, inequality persists. According to the Bihar Caste Survey Report (2023), over 3 lakh people remain homeless, and only 36.76% of households live in concrete houses with two or more rooms, while 14% still reside in huts. Schemes like PM Awas Yojana (Urban) and Swachh Bharat Mission continue to expand coverage, but progress is uneven. Bihar has one of India's youngest populations - more than half in the 15-59 working-age group - but quality employment remains elusive. The state ranks ninth in youth unemployment, reflecting a sharp mismatch between aspirations and available opportunities. In the run-up to the 2025 state elections, both the NDA and the INDIA bloc have made jobs and migration core campaign issues. However, experts remain sceptical....