Patna: Chief minister Nitish Kumar is all set to use the opportunity of his Delhi visit to press his demand for the Special Category Status (SCS) for Bihar from Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Though the people connect Nitish's visit with the union cabinet expansion, one of the most important plan Nitish would like to execute is the long pending demand of SCS to the state.
The issue is relevant in the backdrop of the latest report of NITI Aayog in which Bihar was put on the bottom of SDG (Sustainable Development Goal).
Nitish has been demanding the SCS to Bihar since 2005 but so far the long pending demand has not been fulfilled. Last week NITI Aayog released the data after which the opposition got the opportunity to take a jibe at the NDA government at both centre and state. The opposition leaders attacked the ruling party claiming that the long pending demand has not been fulfilled despite having a double engine government.
With Nitish's visit to the national capital, the experts opine that this is the best time for the Bihar CM to press his demand and put forward another round of talk with the PM on the issue of SCS.
This particular issue has remained a contentious point between BJP and JDU and in the days to come it may create differences within the alliance. However, the experts opined that giving an SCS to Bihar is like opening the Pandora's box as several other states are looking at the centre with the same demand.
At present, there are eleven states which have been granted SCS which includes J&K, Nagaland, Assam, Tripura, Sikkim, Manipur, Arunachal Pradesh, Mizoram, Himachal Pradesh, Meghalaya and Uttarakhand.
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After the formation of NITI Aayog in place of the planning commision, the concept of SCS was removed by the 14th finance commission. However, the 15th finance commission has stated that the special category status lies in the hands of the central government; however, there is no more concept of SCS in the Indian Constitution.
Nitish always explains that Bihar is a land-locked state and least developed so his demand is justified and Bihar should be given SCS.
Few days back, JDU parliamentary board chairman Upendra Kushwaha had come out with several tweets tagging the PM to reconsider the demand for SCS. Kushwaha had justified his point claiming that most of the natural and mineral resources had gone to Jharkhand after the bifurcation so SCS is very much required for overall development in the state.
As Nitish himself has made the SCS a poll plank issue in the past several times, he would not like to miss this golden opportunity to put forward his demands once more to the PM.
Once the state will be granted the SCS, the centre will bear the 90% expenditure in all the centrally sponsored schemes and the rest 10 % will be given by the state as a loan but on zero percent interest. At present the centre and state ratio is 60:40 or 80:20 in the general category.
Political experts opined that Nitish will once again try to get the maximum mileage through this issue as he is already in Delhi but the ball is in the court of the PM and only he can take the decision.
Patna based Political and economic expert Dr Sanjay Kumar said, “At the time of Manmohan Singh government, Raghuram Rajan committee was constituted and the committee has clearly mentioned that Bihar does not fit the SCS criteria. However, in the 15th finance commission, some modification took place and authority has been given to parliament. Nitish Kumar will surely try to raise this issue but in the present scenario it is a very tough decision because several other states are in queue demanding SCS.”
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He further said, “State like Andra Prasdesh are on top because SCS was promised to Andhra after which the formation of Telangana took place. Granting SCS to Bihar would be like opening Pandora's box for the Modi government. Why the JDU leaders are raising the issue now is because Nitish returned to the NDA fold in 2017 itself. Why didn't Nitish reiterated his demand in 2017 why suddenly in 2021. It proves that Nitish has his own political interest and accordingly he is playing his moves.”
SCS was first introduced in 1969 when 5th finance commission sought to provide central assistance to the disadvantaged states under various schemes. This formula was named after then deputy chairman of the planning commission, Dr Gadgil Mukherjee.
Apart from Bihar and Andhra Pradesh, the other states which are in queue for SCS, including Goa, Odhisha and Rajasthan.
