Law kumar mishra
PATNA: Ahead of arrival of senior BJP leaders including union home minister Amit Shah for a party meet, the ruling Janata Dal (U) on Thursday demanded grant of special category status to Bihar to give boost to state’s economy. The JDU also expressed concern over the impending threat of recession in the country and sharp fall in the value of rupee vis-à-vis dollar and other international currencies.
Such a demand from the ruling JDU assumes importance given the souring of relationship between the two ruling allies in the past few months.
Former party MLC and senior spokesman of the party Ranbir Nandan sought immediate grant of special category status to Bihar and adequate measures from the Centre to prevent adverse impact of the likely economic slump in the country.
He said that imposition of GST on food grains amid looming economic depression would definitely create problems for the poor families especially in states like Bihar where 33.7 percent people lived below poverty line.
Quoting economic survey report, Ranbir said that Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar has been able to bring 65.3 percent population above poverty line by initiating many development and welfare schemes in the last 16 years. “Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar has been making efforts to attract investment and industrial growth. In a bid to create conducive atmosphere for further growth and development, the government has been demanding special category status to Bihar since 2005 but nothing tangible has been done so far in this regard,” he added.
The JDU leader said that Bihar was pushed into the quagmire of backwardness especially after creation of Jharkhand with mineral-rich districts of the then South Bihar in the year 2000. “Though the Nitish government has brought the state on the rail of development in the last 16 years, it is imperative to grant special category status to Bihar for its rapid development,” he said.
Ranbir said that the JDU had supported the concept of uniform tax system in the country. In view of the impending economic slump, the NDA government at the Centre should favourably consider grant of special category status to Bihar and help the state to meet its financial requirements, he added.