RJD rakes up special category status for Bihar ahead of Budget

Patna: A day ahead of the presentation of the Union budget in Parliament, RJD raked up the issue of special category status for Bihar on Saturday, stressing that the long-pending demand should be fulfilled in this year’s Budget to end the state’s backwardness. The party said that for the past several years, it has sought the granting of Bihar’s due, but only injustices were done to the state.Explaining why Bihar remains a fit case for special category status, the RJD said the latest economic survey released by the Union govt described Bihar as the poorest state in the country. “The latest economic survey presents Bihar as the poorest state in the country, where per capita income is the lowest compared to other states. In districts like Sheohar, Sitamarhi and Araria, the per capita monthly income is less than Rs 3,000. Again, Bihar currently has a debt of more than Rs3.5 lakh crore, which means each person of the state owes more than Rs25,000. In such a situation, granting special state status to the state becomes extremely necessary to lift it out of poverty,” RJD spokesperson Chitranjan Gagan said on Saturday.He said the RJD, for long, demanded the granting of special state status to Bihar and to give it the rightful due. “But the NDA govt at the Centre continuously did injustice to the state,” Gagan alleged, adding that whatever announcements were made regarding Bihar in the Centre’s previous Budget proved to be just lip service.Accusing CM Nitish Kumar of dragging his feet over such an important issue, the RJD said at one point of time, the JD(U) chief even announced that he would lend his support to the alliance that grants this status to the state. “Ironically, the Union govt currently runs with the JD(U) support, but despite this, the state faces gross injustice,” Gagan said, adding that both BJP and the JD(U) would have to give explanations to the people of the state if Bihar is ignored once again.The Nitish govt made a fresh appeal for special category status during the three-day visit of the 16th Finance Commission to the state in March last year. In its memorandum, the Bihar govt urged the commission to make “separate financial provisions to address the state’s developmental challenges”. It argued for a formula-based approach to resource transfers.