No special status for Bihar

Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia today ruled out clubbing Bihar with the 11 special category states.

On this, newly elected Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar said he intended to take up the matter during his meeting with Planning Commission officials for the state's annual plan talks.

Bihar wants to join the special category states list which includes Jammu and Kashmir, Uttaranchal, Himachal Pradesh, Meghalaya, Sikkim, Assam, Nagaland, Manipur, Arunachal Pradesh, Tripura and Mizoram. Special category states get higher central grants and tax benefits.

Kumar, speaking on the sidelines of the "Jagran Forum" organised by the Dainik Jagran group here, said the state was suffering from a host of problems like loss of resources, Naxalite activities, unemployment, poverty and labour migration. Kumar also planned to ask for a tax holiday for the state. "We will be asking for a substantial increase in the annual plan size," he added.

Ahluwalia, however, said, "The solution for Bihar does not lie in being given a special category status. Bihar has the resources and the solution lies in addressing the issues of capacity, policy and governance."

Bihar had already been provided an assistance of Rs 1,000 crore under the backward regions grants fund though there had been a delay in implementing the proposal, he added. The fund had an allocation of Rs 5,000 crore for the current fiscal.

Even during the Rashtriya Janata Dal regime, the Bihar government had been toying with the idea of seeking special category status as it was of the opinion that bifurcation of the state had resulted in transfer of resources to Jharkhand. Kumar's Janata Dal (United) had also sought to take up the issue after the last general elections in 2004.

REJECTED PLEA
Bihar CM Nitish Kumar says the state is suffering from a host of problems like loss of resources, Naxalite activities, unemployment, poverty and labour migration

Kumar also plans to ask for a tax holiday for the state

Planning Commission says the state's solution lay in addressing the issues of capacity, policy and governance

Bihar has been given an assistance of Rs 1,000 crore under the backward regions grants fund