Bihar Special Status:The central government has once again refused to grant special status to Bihar, which is a big setback for Nitish Kumar's party Janata Dal (United). Because, Nitish Kumar along with his party leaders have been constantly demanding special status for Bihar from the central government. JDU is currently the main ally of the NDA government. Despite this, the central government has rejected this demand of Nitish Kumar and has given its answer.
JDU MP from Jhanjharpur, Bihar, Rampreet Mandal had asked the Finance Ministry a question related to granting special state status to Bihar. He had said that does the government have any plan to give special status to Bihar and other most backward states to promote economic development and industrialization?
Minister of State for Finance told why Bihar cannot get special status
In a written reply, Minister of State for Finance Pankaj Choudhary said that "There is no case for granting special category status to Bihar."
The note wrote, "The National Development Council (NDC) had recently granted special category status for plan assistance to certain states that had several characteristics that required special attention. These characteristics included (i) hilly and difficult terrain, (ii) low population density and/or large proportion of tribal population, (iii) strategic location on borders with neighbouring countries, (iv) economic and infrastructural backwardness and (v) non-viable nature of state finances." It said, "Earlier, Bihar's request for special category status was considered by the IMG, which submitted its report on March 30, 2012. The IMG found that based on the existing NDC criteria, a case for special category status for Bihar was not made out."
Nitish Kumar got nothing from the Centre! Neither railways, nor home minister, nor defence and now he did not even get the status of a special state.#NitishKumar #BiharSpecialStatus #Bihar #NitishKumar pic.twitter.com/rCSVAPQodN
— sumit kumar (@eyeamsumit) July 22, 2024
Why are states given special status?
Special status is given to backward states to accelerate their development by ensuring greater central assistance. Though the Constitution does not provide for special status for any state, it was introduced in 1969 on the recommendations of the Fifth Finance Commission.
These states have got special status
So far, the states that have received special status include Jammu and Kashmir (now a union territory), the northeastern states, and hill states like Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand. A state with special category status gets more financial assistance from the Centre in central government schemes and many concessions in taxes.
So will Nitish Kumar separate from NDA?
JDU has been demanding special status for Bihar for a long time. Nitish Kumar's party, TDP and other parties got together due to BJP's absence from majority in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, after which BJP and NDA government was formed in the country. Now after the central government rejected the demand for special status, questions have started arising whether Nitish Kumar will withdraw his support from NDA?
