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Bihar has pitched for special status for all the States whose per capita income and investment, human development index and infrastructure are much below the national average. Special status entitles States to get a number of tax concessions.
Currently, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and Chhattisgarh are among the nine states whose per capita net domestic product (at 2004-05 prices) is below the national average. The national average is Rs 38,005. However, out of these nine, some States such as Jammu and Kashmir have already got special status.
The Chief Minister of Bihar, Mr Nitish Kumar, said here on Wednesday that, “Special status should not be there just for the hilly or backward States. There are others, too, who need it, which requires the criterion to be changed.” A letter has been sent to the Prime Minister, he said while talking to reporters after a meeting with the Planning Commission to finalise Bihar’s Annual Plan. The Planning Commission has agreed to approach the Cabinet for continuation of special package to Bihar during the 12th Plan. The State has pitched for a Rs 20,000-crore package during the 12th Plan period. However, the Deputy Chairman of the Planning Commission, Mr Montek Singh Ahluwalia, said that the package would be finalised once the matter is placed before the Cabinet in the next two-three months.
PLAN SIZE
The Plan panel and the State agreed to an Annual Plan size of Rs 28,000 crore for 2012-13. Around 37.78 per cent of the total proposed outlay for this year and 35.23 per cent of the total proposed outlay for the 12thPlan has been earmarked for the social sector.
The next highest outlay has been proposed for the transport sector, which accounts for 18.34 per cent of the 12th Plan and 18.92 per cent of the total proposed outlay for 2012-13. Bihar has topped in the growth rate of gross state domestic product (GSDP) with 13.1 per cent during 2011-12. However, according to Tendulkar methodology, the poverty level in Bihar is much higher than the national average in both rural and urban areas by all estimates.
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