Replying to a private member bill that sought special category status with central aid to Uttarakhand in line with North East, Minister of State for Planning Ashwani Kumar said in the Rajya Sabha, "There could be similarities between the Himalayan state and North East, but they are not in identical situation."
The situation in Uttarakhand has improved. The state is compared with other developed states and there was no need to continue with special treatment to Uttarakhand, he said.
Noting that the development in North East started much later, Kumar said central assistance under the non-lapsable central pool of resources (NLCPR) could not be spent fully due to law and order issues in the region.
"Due to insurgency and law and order problem, it was not possible to spend entire allocation on development in North East region," he added.
A special category state gets preferential treatment in federal assistance and tax breaks. They are given higher share of the central resource allocation because of harsh terrain, backwardness and other social problems. All of them also happen to be border states. There are at present 11 special category states including seven north-eastern states, the minister said.
