PATNA: Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Sunday demanded special category status (SCS) to the state during the 26th meeting of the Eastern Zonal Council meeting chaired by Union Home Minister Amit Shah in the state capital.
The meeting, however, was not attended by West Bengal Chief Ministers Mamata Banerjee, Odisha CM Naveen Patnaik, and Jharkhand CM Naveen Patnaik. Nitish, however, met Union Home Minister Amit Shah after a lot of political acrimony between them ever since the JD (U) supremo had snapped ties with the BJP to form a new government with the grand alliance in August last year.
The demand for special category status has been revived afresh after the release of the caste and economic survey data. Last month, the state cabinet passed a resolution demanding a grant of special category status for the state. He claims that it will require five years to complete various schemes but the state government would be able to do it in a very short time if it was accorded special status.
ALSO READ | Nitish Kumar cabinet passes resolution seeking special category status for Bihar
On earlier occasions, Shah had contended that Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government had spent an amount of Rs 1.35 lakh crore on the development of the state as per his promise.
BJP now maintains that the issue of special status has lost its relevance now. Former deputy chief minister and BJP MP Sushil Kumar Modi had recently contended that no state would be accorded special status as the ‘concept’ itself did not exist any longer. He said that both the Raghuram Rajan committee and the 14th Finance Commission had rejected the concept of special status.
The state government also demanded the construction of a high dam in Nepal to prevent floods caused by rivers originating from there. On it, Shah asked state water resources minister Sanjay Jha to submit a detailed proposal to the Centre. Every year, a large tract of area in north Bihar gets flooded by rivers originating from Nepal. It also demanded Shah to incorporate two recently amended laws, which increased the reservation quotas from 50 percent to 65 percent in the 9th schedule of the constitution to provide them immunity from judicial review. It was also decided that the next meeting of the Eastern Zonal Council meeting would be held in Ranchi.
