Ahead of the union budget, Minister of State for Finance Pankaj Chaudhary on Monday said that Bihar will not be given a special status. His remarks came as a written reply to Janata Dal United (JDU) leader Ramprit Mandal’s question on special status. Mandal asked the minister to give details if Bihar is to get special status or provide the reason.
In his written reply, Minister Chaudhary said that based on the 2012 report of the inter-ministerial group, Bihar cannot be given the status of a special state.
He said that in the past, the National Development Council (NDC) had given special category status to some states for plan assistance, which had many characteristics that required special consideration. In the case of Bihar, the circumstances are not such that it should be given the status of a special state. Because of this, Bihar cannot be given the status of a special state..
In the written reply of Minister of State for Finance Pankaj Chaudhary, it has been said that there are five conditions for getting the status of a special state.
- Mountainous and difficult terrain
- Low population density or large number of tribal population
- Important strategic position on the border with neighbouring countries
- Economic backwardness and lack of basic amenities
- Unviable nature of finance in the state
In the written reply of Minister of State for Finance Pankaj Chaudhary, it has been said that the decision not to give special state status to Bihar was taken after considering the specific situation of the state separately keeping in mind these five factors. Earlier, Bihar’s request for special category status was considered by an inter-ministerial group (IMG), which submitted its report on March 30, 2012. The IMG had come to the conclusion that on the basis of the existing NDC criteria, a case for special category status for Bihar is not made out.
