Moving quickly to meet Nitish Kumar’s demand for a revision of the definition of backwardness, the Centre discarded the existing criteria for determining the eligibility of states for special assistance in favour of a new one which should enhance Bihar’s access to central funds.
The finance ministry announced that backwardness and the consequent eligibility of states for special assistance would now be judged on criteria measuring their distance from the national average on parameters such as per capita income and other human development indicators. The new criteria will be worked out by a six-member panel headed by chief economic advisor Raghuram Rajan.
After the annual plan meeting where Bihar’s plan size was hiked by 34% to Rs 34,000 crore, the Planning Commission said that despite the recent surge, Bihar continued to trail the national average on parameters which are to be part of the Composite Development Index.
The earlier measure, which evaluated claims for special category status, comprised proximity to international border, poor infrastructure, sparse population and hilly terrain. This was a hindrance for Bihar and several states, including UP, West Bengal, Rajasthan and Odisha.
Chief ministers of UP and West Bengal, Akhilesh Yadav and Mamata Banerjee, in that order, have also asked for favourable assistance from the Centre.
Coming against the backdrop of Congress’s overtures towards the Bihar CM at a time when he is drifting away from the BJP and his new-found camaraderie with P Chidambaram, the move to junk the old criteria is seen through the prism of Congress’s needs for fresh allies. Kumar, widely reckoned to be the predominant political force in Bihar, fits the bill to the tee.
Observers have also been struck by the choice of Saibal Gupta as a member of the Rajan-led panel. The Patna-based economisthas been a passionate advocate of special assistance to Bihar.
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