NITI Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant said that the states in Indias southern and western region were growing rapidly, but those like Bihar, UP and Chattisgarh were keeping the country backward. Speaking at the first Khan Abdul Gaffar Khan Memorial Lecture at Jamia Millia Islamia University, Kant said, "Eastern part of India particularly states like Bihar, UP, Chattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan is keeping India backward especially on social indicators. While we have have improved on ease of doing business, we have remained backward on human development index. We are still 131 out of 188 countries in HDI.