Some of the advantages of Statehood

   At the stroke of midnight on November 1, 2000, Congress leader Ajit Jogi took the oath as the first chief minister of Chhattisgarh. The ceremony was held in a dark, small town, dotted with cheap hotels and tea stalls. At the time, Raipur was just another district headquarter in mighty Madhya Pradesh. The district collectors bungalow had to be upgraded as the official residence of the new CM.

   Nine years on, Raipur is a buzzing state capital with fourlane roads, plazas, posh neighbourhoods and malls. Compare Chhattisgarh to its mother state and we find perceptible development, especially in the urban areas of the new state. The Madhya Pradesh capital (Bhopal) still does not have a mall; Raipur has so many. Big industrial houses such as Tata, Arcelor Mittal, Jindal and Essar are bringing business here, says Ruchir Garg, a senior journalist in Raipur. Garg is one of many who remember life before Chhattisgarh was carved out of Indias largest state. The change, they say, has been like cosmetic surgery, with instant and spectacular results. An ugly duckling changed into a swan with beautification projects, highways and big money being injected into infrastructure.

   Consider this. In 1999, Raipur municipality did not have the money to pay its employees. Today, Chhattisgarh reportedly has a Rs 20,000-crore budget. Statehood meant the job market opened up, with large-scale public and private sector recruitment. Last week, the state government held examinations to fill 80,000 education department jobs.

   However, some say the rural areas remain as benighted as before. With the creation of the new state, land prices in cities have gone up. The land mafia has become active and the poor are being dislocated, says Rajendra Sayal, senior leader of the Peoples Union of Civil Liberties. The new roads take soft drinks into rural areas where the doctor still does not visit. Irrigation is no longer a government priority; 1,583 farmers have committed suicide since 2001 and 7.5 lakh labour migrates each year from the state. It is worth noting that the Maoists find fertile breeding ground here.

   Its not all doom and gloom though. The region no longer reports death by starvation. Families below the poverty line can buy a kg of rice for Re 1 and salt for 25 paise. In 2000, it took more than 90 minutes to travel from Raipur to Bhilai. Today, journey time has been slashed to a third. Its consistent with the image of a new state in a tearing hurry.