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Row after Centre says case for special status for Bihar is not made out
A day before the presentation of the Union Budget, which some analysts expect to have some financial sops for Bihar and Andhra Pradesh, states governed by key allies of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the finance ministry on Monday ruled out granting the so-called Special Category Status to Bihar, citing a 2012 report that argued that the state doesn’t meet the parameters for planned assistance under the Special Category Status.
A day before the presentation of the Union Budget, which some analysts expect to have some financial sops for Bihar and Andhra Pradesh, states governed by key allies of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the finance ministry on Monday ruled out granting the so-called Special Category Status to Bihar, citing a 2012 report that argued that the state doesn’t meet the parameters for planned assistance under the Special Category Status.
The ministry’s response provoked an immediate reaction from the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), which is the main opposition party in Bihar; it sought the resignation of Janata Dal (United) leader and chief minister Nitish Kumar, whose party governs the state in a coalition with the BJP.
In a written reply to JD(U) lawmaker Ramprit Mandal, who sought to know if the Centre “proposes to provide special status to Bihar and other most backward states to promote economic growth and industrialization”, Pankaj Chaudhary, the minister of state for finance, said in the Lok Sabha, “Earlier, the request of Bihar for Special Category Status was considered by an Inter-Ministerial Group (IMG) which submitted its Report on 30th March, 2012. The IMG came to the finding that based on existing NDC criteria, the case for Special Category Status for Bihar is not made out.”
The minister pointed out that the Special Category Status for plan assistance was granted in the past by the National Development Council (NDC) to some states that were “characterised by a number of features necessitating special consideration.”
“These features included (i) hilly and difficult terrain, (ii) low population density and/or sizeable share of tribal population, (iii) strategic location along borders with neighbouring countries, (iv) economic and infrastructural backwardness and (v) non-viable nature of State finances,” he added.
The JD(U) has been demanding special status for Bihar, one of the poorest states of the country , for several years, and efforts gained momentum after the formation of the third NDA government . The JD(U), along with Andhra’s Telugu Desam Party and Maharashtra’s Shiv Sena, are critical allies whose numbers in the Lower House helped the NDA cross the majority mark.
RJD national president Lalu Prasad demanded Nitish Kumar’s resignation, saying the chief minister failed to get special status for Bihar. “Nitish Kumar should resign. He had promised to get special status ....... The Centre will have to give special status,” said Prasad.
“Bihar will get the special state status, by hook or crook...We have been demanding this for so long...Nitish Kumar failed to get this (status)...Just by one sign, it can be given but they (Central government) don’t want to give this status,” said RJD Rajya Sabha MP Manoj Jha.
To be sure, the Special Category Status has virtually become redundant. The late Union finance minister Arun Jaitley had said the demand for special status by some states was no longer tenable after the 14th Finance Commission recommended that the states’ share in net proceeds of Union tax revenues should increase from 32% to 42%.It also suggested that sharing of taxes should be the primary route for transfer of resources to states. With this, it virtually made concessions such as additional funds through special status administratively redundant.
The government is, however, considering options to compensate states such as Andhra Pradesh and Bihar that suffered because of bifurcation, which may include special assistance for infrastructure development and central support for externally aided projects, besides taking help of experts in preparing state-specific compensation packages. Some of these measures might be announced in the Union Budget on Tuesday.
