PATNA: Acknowledging that Bihar merited "special help" for its economic revival, Finance Minister P Chidambaram on Sunday said an economic resurgence of the backward state was crucial for achieving a national growth rate upward of nine per cent. "India can become prosperous only if Bihar becomes prosperous and for this it requires special help," Chidambaram said while inaugurating the east central zonal office of Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) here. Chidambaram said both he and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh shared the view and wanted to help the state in its march towards development, particularly in the fields of agriculture, health infrastructure building, industry and education. He said the three states, Bihar, rich in agriculture and manpower, Jharkhand and Orissa, endowed with rich mineral resources, had the potential to power the growth of the country. "These three states have the potential to lift India's growth rate far beyond even 9.5 per cent," Chidambaram said. Stating that India was an "under insured" country, the finance minister said more than 80 crore people did not have any insurance cover and stressed the need for extending health accident and education insurance cover to the poor. He said the UPA government had decided to launch 'aam admi beema yojana' through the LIC on Gandhi Jayanti on October two to cover at least one crore poor families in the first year. The aim, he said, was to cover all poor families across the country over the years. "The LIC, with its size and reach is the most precious jewel among the public sector undertakings," he said and claimed the 51-year-old number one brand in the sector could outperform any private sector insurance company.
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