Bihar to press for spl status at CMs’ meet

PATNA: CM Jitan Ram Manjhi will meet PM Narendra Modi on December 7 in New Delhi during the conference of the CMs of northeastern states and take up with him various issues related to Bihar, including the demand for special category status.
“I had sought time from the PM to meet him but he did not give an appointment. Therefore, I shall use this occasion (the conference) to inform him about various issues.I shall request him to accord Bihar special category status and special package as promised by him during his election meetings this year. I shall urge him to release the amount deducted from the Backward Region Grant Fund (BRGF), and also draw his attention towards the Centre’s move to slash the target of Indira Awas from 6 lakh to 2.40 lakh this year. I shall request him not to reduce the target, so that by 2019 Bihar achieves the target of being free of open defecation,” said the CM on Monday. The CM had met Modi in August, his first meeting with the PM, and handed him over a memorandum listing various demands.
There should not be any politics on the special category status, said Manjhi and added that opposition parties have politicized the matter and linking it with the 2015 assembly election, which was not fair.
Reacting to the statements of Union minister Ram Vilas Paswan and former deputy CM Sushil Kumar Modi that special category status would definitely be accorded to Bihar once the NDA government is formed in the state in 2015, Manjhi said, “This is nothing but sheer politics.”
“During Lok Sabha elections, many tall promises were made, which turned out to be hollow. The NDA formed its government at the Centre six months back. It had promised ‘achhe din’ but everyone knows how many promises it has fulfilled. People are no more ready to be swayed by tall claims and false promises. What is the guarantee that they will give special status to Bihar? Our fight for this will continue and people will support JD (U) to help it form the government under the leadership of Nitish Kumar,” said Manjhi.
The CM declined to give a direct reply to Paswan’s praise for him as a better CM than Nitish. He said it was up to everyone to evaluate his work.
“I am working as per the road map prepared by Nitish. My predecessor made a turnaround in Bihar, and calling oneself Bihari is no longer a matter of stigma,” he said and added he has made some amendments only in the policies in social sector, like increasing the size of homestead land to be given to landless mahadalit families from 3 decimal to 5 decimal.