Unfazed by the PlanningCommission disapproving his demand to grant special categorystatus to Bihar, Chief Minister Nitish Kumar today made astrong pitch for it, alleging the Centre's Inter-MinisterialGroup (IMG) did not consider the issue with seriousness.
Addressing a meeting of the National Development Council(NDC) chaired by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Kumar alsodemanded that the Centre should provide at least 90 per centof the scheme expenditures as its share in central governmentschemes and "fix the wages under MNREGS at par with theminimum wages fixed by the state."
On the issue special status to the state, he alleged thatIMG constituted by the Prime Minister "did not consider theissues spelt out with due seriousness and reached pre-ordainedconclusions on parameters of special status".
Kumar also demanded the constitution of an expert groupto examine and recommend appropriate policy measures toovercome development disabilities of Bihar.
The Bihar Chief Minister had met the Prime Minister sometime back and submitted him a detailed memorandum on why thestate government was seeking special category status forBihar.
He also met Finance Minister P Chidambaram here lastevening soon after Planning Commission Deputy Chairman MontekSingh Ahluwalia said that Bihar does not meet the existingcriteria to be granted the status of special category state.
In his speech at the NDC meeting here, Kumar that thecase of Bihar being a landlocked and a least developed stateshould have prompted IMG to adopt a different approachaltogether.
Kumar also demanded a revised Gadgil formula for ensuringhigher devolutions for a "backward state like Bihar" as anoverriding priority for inclusive growth as envisaged underthe 12th Five-Year Plan.
Noting that the country has shown high growth rates of7.6 and 7.9 per cent in the 10th and 11th Five-Year Plans, theBihar Chief Minister said, "To sustain the growth momentum atnational level, special attention to the states lagging behindin terms of income, infrastructure and investment would beessential".
Kumar said that the envisaged "faster growth" waspossible only if backward states were made partners innational growth.
"Growth will be more inclusive and sustainable only ifbackward states are supported by resources and enablingpolicy. If this is not done, the slogan of faster, moreinclusive and sustainable growth will only be a mere rhetoricand not translate into a reality," he said.
Briefing the media on the eve of the NDC meetingyesterday, Ahluwalia had said, "Bihar does not meet theexisting criteria according to which a state is deemedeligible for special category state. We do recognise thatBihar and some parts do have a special problem and as part ofBGRF (Backward Regions Grant Fund), we have Bihar package".
Special category status brings private investment in astate as investors get tax benefits. Kumar had been raisingthe demand for last six years. He had also handed over asix-page letter to the Prime Minister on the demand to providethe status to Bihar to spur growth.
Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Himachal Pradesh, Manipur,Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Sikkin, Tripura and Uttarakhandare among the states that have been granted special categorystatus.
"Special Status for Bihar would support the state inmultiple ways. The Centre will bear high percentage of (90 percent) of all centrally-sponspored schemes. This will save ourcommitments of state share in central schemes and help us totake more welfare-based schemes from our saving.
"Further by giving a direct tax break both for Direct andIndirect Tax, it would catalyse the private investment flows.
This will in turn open new avenues of private investmentsleading to certain creation of employment opportunity in thestate," he said.
Kumar, who heads a JDU-BJP alliance government in Bihar,strongly favoured the idea of cash transfer in schemes buttook a jibe at the Centre for "making a lot of publicity" fordirect cash transfers and noted Bihar has been successfullydoing so for the last four years for provision of uniforms andcycles to students.