Patna, (Bihar Times): Nobel Laureate and author of Argumentative Indians and much, much more, Professor Amartya Sen, spoke as an economist while talking to newsmen in Patna on Saturday but delved deep into the history as he delivers a lecture on “Bihar: Past Present And Future.”

As an economist, the subject in which he got the Nobel Prize, he said the present recession in the global economy was more a matter of psychology than economics and no amount of financial stimulus would be enough to turn it around. “We have to get rid of this mindset...the mindset of recession,” he proclaimed.

The stimulus packages alone would not perk up the economy as banks were not lending money due to the crisis of confidence. “You can not pull things through stimulus packages only, until you can change the way people think about this issue. And what is happening is that you can add a lot of liquidity and give them to the banks, but banks won’t lend,” Sen said.

He said, inter alia, there was a huge crisis of confidence. “There are complaints from various industrial sectors that banks are not lending due to risk aversion despite RBI releasing over Rs 4 lakh crore into the system.”

However, while speaking on Bihar he said, it has a history of uniting India. The Mauryan dynasty based at Patliputra established some sort of uniformity of law and order across the country and undertook a number of measures for development of education and public health care in interest of the people.

‘Historian’ Sen explained many aspects of Bihar and India, which he had discussed in many of his books. He recalled Bihar’s “exceptional past”. The state played a great role by unifying India during the rule of Ashoka. The state set a new trend in world democracy by organizing the first Buddhist Global Gouncil at Rajgir after Gautam Buddha’s death, initiating the process of opening doors for “government by discussion”.

Bihar had a glorious tradition of free medical service for all in Pataliputra which impressed the Chinese traveller, Fa-Hien, to record in his accounts.

The only higher educational institution was established in Nalanda. He also threw light on the development of education during and after Buddha period and the pioneering work by Aryabhatta, the mathematician from Kerala who moved to Patna. During Buddha period the basic focus was on elementary education and Buddha preferred colloquial Pali language to Sanskrit.

Sen also made a special mention of Sher Shah whose large empire between 1540 and 1545 was centred on Bihar. He made special mention about Sher Shah’s role in the infrastructure construction across India. The Nobel Laureate, who spent his early life in Shantiniketan, said he still remembers how a bridge built by Sher Shah in Bengal survived when a devastating flood washed away all the others.

Bihar is referred to as a backward state today because the state lagged behind in the areas in which it had set up examples: rule of law, building infrastructure, literacy, education and healthcare. Today there is high incidence of social disorder and the casteism had destabilized the society. The need is to fight and conquer the menace of caste system.

He had a bit of advice for those who matter in the state. Only by instilling confidence among its people can Bihar restore its glorious past. “Pumping liquidity through banks alone will not do. The manner in which people have been thinking has to be changed. And the creation of right psychological atmosphere will help in building confidence among the people to redeem the glorious past.”

 “Why can't we overcome the disadvantages and build a glorious future? We should learn a lesson from the achievements of Bihar and seek inspiration from the past. It will help us address and conquer the persistent disadvantages,” he said.

Present on the occasion was the chief minister Nitish Kumar, his deputy, Sushil Kumar Modi, and a host of intellectuals and bureaucrats. Shaibal Gupta of ADRI said Pratichi, currently working in West Bengal and Jharkhand, is likely to add Bihar on its agenda.

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