For many, the news of Bihar’s remarkable turnaround growth of 11.3%, second highest in the country has come as a big surprise. Surprising as it may sound, it was expected growth for those who have been following the plethora of slow but steady fundamental changes which Bihar economy has been undergoing over the past few years. Undoubtedly, the leadership of the state deserves all the due credit and the much maligned bureaucracy also needs to be appreciated for the remarkable turnaround.

Nobel laureate Amartya Sen while delivering a lecture, “Bihar: past, present and future”, said that Bihar played a great role by unifying India during the rule of Ashoka. The state set a new trend in world democracy by organising the first “Buddhist global council” at Rajgir after Gautam Buddha’s death, initiating the process of opening doors for “government by discussion”.

“The state,” said Sen, “had a trail-blazing tradition of free medical service for all in Pataliputra which impressed the Chinese traveller, Fa-Hsien, to record in his accounts.”

He also made a special mention of Sher Shah whose large empire in early 16th century was centred in Bihar and which constructed the infrastructure of roads and bridges across India. Sen said he still remembered how a bridge built by Sher Shah in Bengal survived when a devastating flood washed away all the others.

But why was Bihar being referred to as a “backward state”? Sen said: “It is because the state lagged behind in the areas in which it had set up examples: rule of law, building infrastructure, literacy, education and healthcare.”

He also urged industrialists from the Jain community to take initiative to develop Pawapuri in Bihar's Nalanda distrit where Lord Mahavira, the founder of Jainism, is believed to have attained enlightenment.”

The renowned economist, who visited Pawapuri Friday, said there was a need to set up three-star hotels, an engineering college and other infrastructure for the area's development. Sen recalled that last time he visited Pawapuri in 2003 when he was part of the delegation of former president A.P.J. Abdul Kalam. Pawapuri is nearly 90 km from Patna.

Nobel Laureate Amartya Sen will head a panel that will make recommendations to set up an international university in Nalanda. The first meeting will be held in Singapore in July.

Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Kumar Modi told rediff.com on Saturday: "It is a big opportunity for us."Other members of the panel are Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose's grand-nephew Sugata Bose, who teaches at the Harvard University in the United States, Singapore Foreign Minister George Yeo, a Chinese minister and Japanese minister.

When it wa decided to establish the university, Chief Minister Nitish Kumar had promised to involve Sen.After the first meeting, three more meetings will held in China, Japan and Bihar.Modi said the state government has begun the process to acquire land for the university. In March, the government had passed a bill in the state Assembly to set up the university.

The proposed university will be fully residential like the ancient Nalanda seat of learning. In the first phase, it will have seven different schools with 46 foreign faculty members and over 400 Indian academics, states the final DPR, which was submitted to the government in February.

The university will offer courses in science, philosophy and spiritualism apart from various other subjects. An international scholar will be the chancellor.

Japan and Singapore have shown keen interest to invest in the proposed university at Nalanda, the idea for which was first mooted in the late 1990s.

The excavated remains at Nalanda are protected as a site of national importance. The university, a fifth century architectural marvel, was home to over 10,000 students and nearly 2,000 teachers.

Nalanda is the Sanskrit name for 'giver of knowledge'. The university, which existed till 1197 AD, attracted students and scholars from Korea, Japan, China, Tibet, Indonesia, Persia and Turkey, besides being a pedestal of higher education in India.