PM Modi mentions ‘BIMARU’ tag in Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan: What does this term mean?

The BIMARU acronym has often been used in the past few decades to refer to the states of Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh, usually to imply they have lagged in terms of economic growth, healthcare, education, and more. Its usage has also drawn criticism. But where did it come from?

What do BIMARU states mean, who coined the term?

Ashish Bose, the late demographer (someone who studies a population and changes within it), coined this term in a paper presented to then-Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi. At this point in time, the states of Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh and Uttarakhand were not separate states and were part of the grouping. BIMARU means “sickly” in Hindi.

In an Economic and Political Weekly article in 2007, Bose explained, “I had coined the term…to pinpoint India’s demographic malady as far back as 1985 when I was asked to brief the then prime minister on India’s family planning programme. It is unfortunate that the BIMARU states continue to be BIMARU even today and what is worse, these states will continue to be BIMARU even after 25 years, as per the registrar general’s projections.”

Bose mainly argued that from a family planning and population control perspective, these four states – with their high population growth rates – were likely to offset the gains made elsewhere in the country. The national goal of reaching a “stabilising population”, meaning where the Total Fertility Rate (TFR) of 2.1 was achieved, was more difficult to achieve, therefore. TFR estimates the number of children each woman bears in her lifetime, on average.

“The good progress in family planning in the southern states cannot compensate for the slow progress of family planning in the northern states in bringing about population stabilisation. This will considerably delay the target date for population stabilisation,” Bose wrote. He cited provisional data from the 3rd round of the National Family Health Survey (NFHS) conducted in 2005-06.

What is the role of BIMARU states in population growth?

“Erstwhile BIMARU states, which accounted for 41 per cent of India’s total population in 2001, will account for 43.5 per cent in 2026. This has tremendous political implications. It also shows that the share of BIMARU states in the absolute increase in India’s population during 2001-26 will be of the order of 50.4 per cent while the share of the south will be only 12.6 per cent,” Bose said.

A 2020 report of the National Commission on Population of the Union Ministry of Health & Family Welfare, titled ‘Report of the Technical Group on Population Projection’, said BIMARU states (excluding the three newly carved out states) will contribute to 49.1% of the population increase in India between 2011 and 2036.

Projected population growth of Indian states, as per a 2020 report of the National Commission on Population of the Union Ministry of Health & Family Welfare.

Population in Indian states also dictates the delimitation process or the number of seats allotted to them in Parliament. Currently, the seats are proportional to the Indian population as of the 1971 census. It was frozen until 2001 (and has now further been extended to 2026) to give states time to meet family planning goals.

Time and again, Southern states have stressed that the division of seats and devolution of funds to states on the basis of population is unfair to them. DMK member Kanimozhi NVN Somu said in Rajya Sabha in December 2022, “Tamil Nadu is the only state which sincerely and successfully implemented the family planning programme proposed by the Union government.”

“In North Indian states, family planning was not implemented with sincerity and due respect…It is absolutely ridiculous and very unfair that states which successfully implemented family planning are penalised, and states that are reckless are being incentivised,” she said.

Bose also pointed to how these states fare poorly in terms of indicators like women’s literacy, lower institutional childbirths (in a medical institution), etc.

However, there was a dip of 4 per cent in the population growth rate of these states — from 24.99 per cent in 1991-2001 to 20.92 per cent in 2001-11 — and it helped pulled down the country’s decadal growth rate.

How has BIMARU been used over time?

The BIMARU tag has been used to criticise the parties in power in these states, and also to showcase success in achieving some progress.

In 2012, then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh remarked, “States that used to grow slowly in earlier periods have done much better. The average growth rate of the five poorest states exceeds the national average for the first time in any Plan period. I think we may be reaching the stage when the term “BIMARU States” can be relegated to history.”

There have also been studies on whether the categorisation continues to apply. According to a 2015 IIM Ahmedabad study on medical facilities in these states, it was noticed there were gaps. “All these states including Bihar (17.83), MP (7.53) and UP (3.91), except Rajasthan (61.19) are below the national average (20.74) in terms of total and rural government hospitals per million people,” it said.

NITI Aayog’s 2019-20 Health Index Round IV also ranked Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Bihar and Uttar Pradesh (in highest to lowest order) at the last four positions out of 19 large states.

What are the alternatives to ‘BIMARU’?

At times Odisha is also included in the grouping, as BIMAROU, although it is not as big a state in terms of population. An Empowered Action Group (EAG) was set up to include these five states in 2001.

Shailaja Chandra, a former Chief Secretary of Delhi and Executive Director of the National Population Stabilisation Fund, wrote in an article for the OECD, that “the National Rural Health Mission, India’s largest-ever health programme, started pumping resources into these ‘high-focus states.’”