Bihar vs Uttar Pradesh
Bihar and Uttar Pradesh are two very important states in the northern Indo Gangetic plane area of India. These two states form the cow belt or the Hindi belt that also includes Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan. Taken together, they are given a name BIMARU that jokingly refers to backward states that weigh down India’s progress. When it comes to UP and Bihar, the two states share many similarities like language and culture, though there are differences that will be highlighted in this article.
Talking about commonalities, Bihar and UP are the most backward states with reasons for their poor show in nations progress being attributed to poor infrastructure, poverty, and inertia, which is a lack of enterprise among civil society to challenge patterns of caste and creed as well as gender inequalities. Apathy of the state machinery is also cited as one factor for the backwardness of these states.
Uttar Pradesh
UP is not just the most populated state in India, it is also the sub national identity that has the highest population in the world. Despite accounting for 20% of India’s population, UP contributes just 8.34% to country’s GDP. With an area of nearly 244000 square kilometers, Lucknow is the capital of UP, while its industrial capital is considered to be Kanpur. UP is believed to be the birthplace of Hinduism, one of the important religions of the world. Major economic activity of the state is agriculture with nearly 73% of the population engaged in farming activities. Kanpur is ahead of Lucknow when it comes to industrial production, though the chikan art and the culture of Lucknow are world famous. Lucknow, especially Malihabad which is a nearby area, is world famous for its Dussehri mango production. Mirzapur in UP is world famous for its carpets while Aligarh is famous for brass products. The world famous Taj Mahal is situated in Agra in UP. Varanasi in UP is believed to be the world’s most ancient city, and is revered by Hindus all over the world for its religious importance.
Bihar
Bihar is a state sharing borders with UP and lying further eastwards in the country. It is 12th largest in terms of area (nearly one hundred thousand square kilometers), having a high density of population being 3rd most populous state. Bihar lags behind other states of India, in terms of output and GDP, though it has made considerable progress in the last few years. The distinction of giving the world its first democracy in the form of the province of Vaishali goes to Bihar. Bihar is very rich in natural resources having the highest proportion of minerals in the country. Despite its backwardness, Bihar was a seat of higher learning in the ancient times with Universities of Nalanda and Vaishali attracting even foreign students for learning.
The economy of the state is dependent upon its mineral reserves, agriculture and service sector. Despite its dismal record in terms of GDP, Bihar has been making striking progress in the last few years, and its GDP has been growing at a rate of 18% as against the national average of 8%, thus making Bihar the fastest growing Indian state.
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What is the difference between Uttar Pradesh and Bihar? · UP is larger in the area than Bihar; also, has a much higher population. · Though both are considered backward in comparison to other states, Bihar has been progressing at a much faster rate in the last few years than UP, and surprisingly, ranks 2nd only to Gujarat in terms of GDP. · Bihar has higher mineral reserves than UP. · UP has agriculture based economy, while Bihar is dependent upon minerals, agriculture and service sectors.
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