Last month, Nitish Kumar returned as Chief Minister of Bihar after the National Democratic Alliance swept the Assembly elections. Two explanations have featured prominently in much of the commentary by analysts: the State’s improvements in basic infrastructure such as roads, piped water, drains, electricity; and women’s empowerment through self-help groups, cycles for girls, and reservations in panchayats, police and State-level jobs. While both these narratives have merit, Bihar’s infrastructure gains and some elements of its record on women’s empowerment have been under quiet strain.
Take piped water and drains. During the first phase of Saat Nischay (Seven Resolves), rural tap water access increased from negligible levels in 2011 to nearly 30% of households and over 60% of villages by 2020. There were similar leaps in drainage and other small civic works. This transformation hinged on Panchayati Raj institutions: not just the mukhiyas, who head the Gram Panchayats, but also the 1.1 lakh ward members who directly implemented these projects.
Understanding Bihar’s local government structure is key to grasping why this decentralisation was so remarkable. Its panchayats are large — an average Gram Panchayat covers approximately 12,000 people, around four times the national average. Historically, whatever powers were devolved were concentrated in the mukhiya. In 2016, Bihar made a radical departure from this model: the responsibility for implementing the Nal-Jal (piped water) and Naali-Gali (drains and lanes) schemes was handed over to ward members. Each ward — with a population of roughly 1,000 and a directly elected representative — received about ₹20 lakh to implement works.
Many ward members were political novices. Severe land constraints meant locating sites for tanks and drains often produced local disputes. Yet, they persevered. Their incentives were hyper-local: more than any other elected representative, ward members live among, and are in close contact with, their constituents. A direct consequence of this devolution was a change in where people chose to contest elections: between the 2016 and 2021, ward candidates nearly doubled, while competition for the mukhiya post declined by about 20%.
This decentralised model was abruptly dismantled in May 2023, when a rule change stripped ward members of all financial authority. Citing concerns about corruption, maintenance and implementation of tap-water projects were handed to the Public Health Engineering Department, whose unelected officials have no local presence in Gram Panchayats. Thousands of ward bank accounts now lie dormant, and ward members are frustrated.
These moves have direct consequences: expansion of piped water connections has stalled. Even mukhiyas, who now have the final word on drain constructions, complain of reduced autonomy under tighter bureaucratic control. This pattern extends to other public goods and services such as waste collection, solar and street lighting.
If the infrastructure story is fragile, so too is the women’s empowerment narrative. Bihar was neither the pioneer nor is it unique in adopting 50% reservation in panchayats for women. Research suggests that many women representatives still operate as proxies for their husbands. More important, substantive empowerment requires strengthening the more than 55,000 women ward members who form the backbone of local governance — precisely the actors whose financial authority has been removed.
Jeevika, Bihar’s self-help group movement, remains a success. But entrepreneurship cannot be catalysed through one-time transfers such as the Mukhyamantri Mahila Rozgar Yojana. The scheme cost roughly ₹15,600 crore — resources unavailable for health, education, or the physical infrastructure Bihar needs. Also, an over-reliance on direct transfers weakens the chain of accountability between citizens and their elected representatives. When higher tiers of the State bypass panchayats and send money directly to citizens, local democracy is hollowed out.
Bihar’s greatest resource is its unrealised potential. Much of it can be unlocked ground-up.
M.R. Sharan is Assistant Professor at the University of Maryland, College Park; Munish Sharma leads GRAMA, a policy initiative based out of Patna
Published – December 29, 2025 12:58 am IST
