Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has renewed the decade-old call for special category status for the state, stressing that in addition to own expenses, states were saddled with a sizeable share of cost of central schemes.
Kumar stepped up his attack for the long-standing demand to grant special status to the state by passing a resolution in the state cabinet.
“The cabinet has passed a resolution requesting the Centre for grant of special category status to Bihar,” Kumar said adding that the fresh demand was necessitated by findings of the caste survey his government recently carried out.
“A special status will benefit not just our SCs, STs and other backward classes, but also the poor among the upper castes. To put pressure on the Centre, I intend to launch a campaign. I hope you all are in support of such a campaign”, the chief minister said.
What is the Demand for the Special Status?
The special category status (SCS) is a classification granted by the Centre to assist the development of States that face geographical or socio-economic disadvantages.
The idea of SCS was introduced in 1969 after the central government acknowledged that several states were more disadvantaged than the others. The states to be classified as SCS depended on several factors likes hilly terrain, low population density, tribal population, strategic location along international borders or economic backwardness among other things.
In 1969, three States — Jammu & Kashmir, Assam and Nagaland — were granted the SCS. Currently, eleven states including Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Sikkim, Tripura, Himachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Telangana, and Uttarakhand are given the SCS.
What are the Benefits Given to special category States?
The Special Category States receive grants were earlier based on the Gadgil-Mukherjee formula, which earmarked nearly 30 percent of the total central assistance for States to the SCS States, according to The Hindu.
However, after the abolition of the Planning Commission and the recommendations of the 14th and 15th FC, this assistance to SCS States has been subsumed in an increased devolution of the divisible pool funds for all States (increased to 41% in the 15th FC from 32%).
Why is Bihar Demanding the Special Status?
Bihar has been demanding special status ever since the mineral-rich Jharkhand was carved out of the state in 2000. Nitish Kumar, the longest serving Chief Minister of Bihar, has been at the forefront of demanding inclusion in the category since 2006. The special status for Bihar has also been a poll promise of Nitish Kumar’s party in the assembly elections.
With a per-capita GDP of around Rs 54,000, Bihar has consistently been one of the poorest States. As per Centre’s ‘Multi-dimensional Poverty Index’ (MPI) report, Bihar ranked as the poorest state in India, estimating that nearly 52 per cent of its population, without any access to requisite health, education and living standards.
The state is home to around 94 lakh poor families and the granting of SCS will help the government get about Rs 2.5 lakh crore required to fund various welfare measures over the next five years. The state, with nine per cent of India’s population but just 2.9 per cent of its land area, is under extraordinary pressure according to the state government. The centre, however, has not accorded the status to Bihar yet.
Why Bihar has Not Been Given the Special Category Status?
Although Bihar meets most of the criteria for SCS, it does not fulfil the requirement of hilly terrain and geographically difficult areas, which is one of the primary reasons for difficulty in infrastructural development.
In 2013, the Raghuram Rajan Committee set up by the Centre suggested a new methodology based on a ‘multi -dimensional index’ for devolving funds instead of a SCS, which can be revisited to address the State’s socio-economic backwardness. The committee placed Bihar in the “least developed category.”
The Centre has remained mum on the question of special status to Bihar. The BJP, which is in the opposition in the state, has called it a ‘political stunt’. Former Bihar Deputy CM and senior party leader Sushil Modi said that the 14th and 15th Finance Commissions abolished the concept of special status. He also blamed the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government, which ignored the demand though Lalu Prasad Yadav, whose party is in alliance with Nitish’s JD(U), played a crucial role in the government back then.
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