New Delhi. Bihar will not get the status of a special state for now. Replying to a question by Nitish Kumar’s JDU MP Rampreet Mandal in Parliament today, Minister of State for Finance Pankaj Chaudhary said that the special status category has been discussed in the National Development Council (NDC) meeting. The states that needed the status of a special state have already been given this status, Bihar does not fit in this category. Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has been demanding special state status for Bihar for a long time. Even when Narendra Modi was elected as the leader of the NDA parliamentary party for the third time, Nitish had said in gestures while looking at Prime Minister Modi that he has served the entire country and I have full faith that whatever is left will be completed this time, whatever belongs to every state, it will get it.
Let us tell you that in the all-party meeting held recently, all the political parties of Bihar had supported this demand of Nitish Kumar. RJD supremo Lalu Yadav is also in favour of the demand for special status for Bihar. LJP (Ram Vilas) president Chirag Paswan also supported this demand. Also, former Bihar CM and HAM party chief Jitan Ram Manjhi also called this demand justified.
What is the status of special state-
Special state status is given to states which are backward in comparison to other states in terms of geographical, social and economic resources. The National Development Council declares states fit or unfit for special state status on the basis of mountains, inaccessible areas, sparsely populated and tribal areas, area near international border, per capita income and low revenue.
Facilities available under special state-
If a state gets special status, then the Centre gives 90 percent of the funds to implement the central government’s schemes, while in other states, this amount is 60 to 75 percent. The remaining amount is borne by the state government. Special category states also get 30 percent of the gross budget of the central government. Apart from this, special states also get concessions in all kinds of taxes including customs duty, income tax and corporate tax.
