Bihar is located in the eastern part of the country, has 38 districts and 64 per cent literacy. It is the 13th largest state in the country with an area of 94,163 sq km and the 3rd largest by population. In fact, its population is the fastest-growing of any state. Bihar’s Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP) grew 10.73 per cent during 2012-13. The key areas of development are solid-waste management system, water-supply and sewage. The state won a SKOCH Order-of-Merit for e-Governance for its eSamadhan project in the Gaya district.

Key Achievements

The Gaya district helpline e-Samadhan works on the system of Interactive Voice Response System (IVRS), which is a computerised telephone system. A management information system (MIS) has been developed for the maintenance of call records in a digital format. A caller can either get the information as desired or by registering a complaint by calling on the helpline number. It is an attempt for bridging the gap between the district administration and the people by taking the public services closer to their doorsteps. Till September 2015, the District help-line had received more than 9,000 calls. The objectives of the project are increased accountability and transparency for public services, improvement in the quality of service delivery and simplification of the various processes that are called into play. The efforts on the part of both public and administration have resulted in various channels that have been designed for the departments / programmes and have a large interactive content. These include education, Mahadalit welfare, Indira Awas, MGNREGA, community banking, domestic violence and RTPS etc.

The state government has however made significant strides in developing the state. The improved governance has led to an economic revival in the state through increased investment in infrastructure, better healthcare facilities, greater emphasis on education and a diminution in crime and corruption. The state therefore holds mere 1 per cent industrial units on national ranking of factories established and output values. Overall this sector has approximately 5 per cent contribution in Bihar’s GDP. The share of this state in national GDP from industrial sector is approximately 20 per cent in total.