Bihar is expected to get Rs.12,000 crore during the 12th five-year Plan (2012-17) as special support from the UPA government, which is being seen as an attempt to appease Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar.
The move comes at a time when UPA managers are looking at JD(U) as a potential partner considering Kumar’s reservations to the idea of projecting Gujarat CM Narendra Modi as BJP’s prime ministerial nominee for the Lok Sabha polls.
The Centre is preparing a Cabinet note to provide funds under special plan during 12th Plan period, which is double than what Bihar got (around Rs.5,500) during the 11th Plan.
The official reason given for the massive hike is to help Bihar fight backwardness in the 12th Plan period. Bihar was getting special support of Rs.1,000 crore every year since Jharkhand was carved out in 2000. The grant was to be discontinued, but Kumar managed to keep it going in the 11th Plan. The Cabinet’s approval to extend the special allocation during the 12th Plan with a handsome hike seems imminent as Congress is extending an olive branch to JD(U).
Sources said the state would get more money under the reworked Backward Regions Grant Fund as Centre is tweaking the criteria to measure backwardness on parameters such as illiteracy, unemployment, access to electricity and education using Census 2011.
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