Its soil is fertile, people hardworking, rivers flowing with water throughout the year, its earth full of valuable and even rare minerals and the climate is congenial, yet its economy has been on the decline and the incidence of poverty on the increase. Its cities, towns and villages unmistakably give the impression of its continuous sliding down. It is one of the most backward states of the country. The administrative machinery seems to have withered away, there is anarchy and chaos, law and order does not seem to exist, criminalization appears to have enveloped the state and infrastructural facilities are in the ruin. Land reforms have failed to proceed further after the abolition of zamindari system.
Educational system is nothing but a scandal and corruption is all pervasive.
Casteism is the reigning ideology. This book looks into the present plight of Bihar on the basis of facts, figures and records. It goes into history, sociology, economy and politics of the state since the establishment of the British Raj. Such a comprehensive study has been attempted for the first time. No other scholar ever attempted such a task in the past with the result that all other books and papers and journalistic writings suffer from lopsidedness and, at times, bias and prejudices.