 "Rajan panel to decide on backwardness of states")
In another move, the government fixed the annual Plan for Bihar at Rs 34,000 crore for 2013-14, almost 21 per cent higher over Rs 28,000 crore fixed for the previous financial year. This amount includes the state’s resources and the Centre’s allocation. Of the annual plan, 9.99 per cent would go for the agriculture sector. Social services share has been enhanced from 36.5 per cent in 2012-13 to 40.59 per cent.
The announcements were made on a day when Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar met Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia in the Capital to discuss the annual plan size of the state. Kumar also met Finance Minister P Chidambaram and Rural Development Minister Jairam Ramesh.
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The Rajan committee set up today would consider criteria such as the state’s positing in national per capita income and human development indicators to evolve a composite index. The panel would have five members but can invite experts as special invitees for deliberations.
Chidambaram had said in his Budget speech that the criteria for determining backwardness under BRGF are based on terrain, density of population and length of international borders. “It may be more relevant to use a measure like the distance of the state from the national average under criteria such as per capita income, literacy and other human development indicators,” he said, proposing to evolve a new criteria and reflect these in planning and devolution of funds.
Bihar had a per capita income of Rs 23,435 in 2011-12, against Rs 60,603 as the national average. Its per capita income was the lowest among 32 states and union territories. Its erstwhile part and mineral rich area — Jharkhand — had Rs 35,652 as the per capita income that year.
However, the major demand of Nitish Kumar to accord a special category status to the state, which has evoked various kinds of political interpretation amid changing equations, might not be fulfilled easily.
Officials said the proposal will have to be okayed by the National Development Council and given the fact that other states, including Odisha, are also demanding the status, it may trigger a race among states.
At the meeting, it was pointed out that Bihar was growing at a slower rate than the country for decades till around 2001-02. However, the state picked up the pace of growth in the recent past and has been doing very well in terms of growth performance in the last few years.
It was one of the best performers in terms of growth during 2002-03 to 2008-09, second only to Gujarat.
The gross domestic product of the state increased from Rs 77,781 crore in 2004-05 to Rs 1,57,957 crore in 2012-13. Kumar said the gap between national and state per capita income has started showing a downward trend in last few years. However, even at the present rate of high growth, it will take more than 25 years to catch up with the national average.