27.12.12

Montek's take on special status for Bihar


The Planning Commission ruled out special category status for Bihar, arguing that doing so would require changes in guidelines, even as CM Nitish Kumar met finance minister P Chidambaram and reiterated the demand.
“Bihar does not meet the existing criteria according to which a state is deemed eligible for special category status,” Planning Commission deputy chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia said.
The comment comes at a time when Kumar has made special category status his main election plank for 2014 and has planned a rally in Delhi in March to pressurize the Centre.
There is view that granting special category status to Bihar by revising the guidelines can help Congress in weaning Kumar from the NDA to the UPA. The thinking goes that with no let up in Kumar’s popularity, his switchover would be gamechanger for the 2014 general elections.
Kumar had even said at a public rally earlier this year that he would support anyone in formation of government at the Centre if they granted special category status to Bihar.
Ahluwalia’s comment came on the eve of the National Development Council (NDC) meeting where Kumar is expected to restate his flagship demand.
“The commission cannot see such demands by states in isolation,” Ahluwalia said, arguing the criteria needs to be revised to accommodate the demand. “Either we have to reopen the whole question or respond (to) the demand of one state. Many states have problems,” he added.
Ahluwalia argued that if Bihar demanded special category status saying it was subject to floods, Rajasthan would make a similar demand saying it faced drought.
Special category states have some distinct characteristics. They have international boundaries, hilly terrain and have distinctly different socio-economic developmental parameters, according to a study undertaken for the 13th Finance Commission. The study said these states also have geographical disadvantages in their effort for infrastructural development.
Public expenditure plays a significant role in the gross State Domestic Product of the states. The north-eastern states are also late starters in development. Hence, the Centre sanctions 90% in the form of grants in plan assistance to states in special category.
Special category states are Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Sikkim, Tripura and Uttarakhand.
The plan panel deputy chief, however, recognized that Bihar needed the Centre’s attention. “We do recognize that some parts of Bihar do have a special problem and as part of BGRF (Backward Regions Grant Fund) we have a Bihar package,” he said.

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