PATNA: Bihar government placed the demand of special category status and immediate financial assistance of over Rs.1.59 lakh crore before the 16th finance commission, the members which came here on a three-day visit on Thursday.
Chief minister Nitish Kumar, who was present at the meeting of the 16th Finance Commission, told the members that Bihar has more expectations from the team and hoped that its demands would be looked into considerably. Arvind Pangariya, a noted economist and chairman of the commission, told the media that they received the state government’s memorandum, which includes the special category status.
“So far the demand for special category status is concerned, it’s beyond our jurisdiction,” he said.
Pangariya said that at this moment, no state has special category status. “It used to be under the Planning Commission. States were divided into special and general categories. But that specification went away with the Planning Commission,” he added.
The chairman, however, admitted that he was aware that Bihar has been demanding special category status for long. “When I was a part of the Niti Aayog, I too promoted it. But finance commission has nothing to do with special category demand,” he said.
A statement issued by the chief minister’s office (CMO) said that the chief minister has high hopes from the visiting members, especially the chairman, who was aware of Bihar’s economic structure as he also happened to be the Chancellor of Nalanda University.
Bihar’s deputy chief minister Samrat Choudhary, who also holds a finance portfolio, said that the government has demanded an immediate grant of Rs.1.59 lakh crore to expedite the process of amelioration of poverty.
“We have requested from the 16th finance commission to provide immediate grants for state’s development,” he said.
He also demanded the allocation of 50 per cent share to states from central taxes. In addition, the central government should share income from cess and surcharge with states. Choudhary also sought allocation of Rs 24,206.68 crore and Rs 35,025.77 crore for panchayati raj institutions and urban local bodies, respectively.