PATNA: The BJP-led NDA govt at the Centre, while citing an inter-ministerial group (IMG) report prepared in 2012, on Monday asserted that ‘a case for granting special category status to Bihar is not made out’; just a day after the saffron party’s allies from the state demanded the status for the backward state.
The Union govt’s statement in the Lok Sabha invited sharp reactions from political parties in the state.

In a written reply in the Lok Sabha, Union minister of state for finance Pankaj Chaudhary pointed out that special category status was granted in the past by the National Development Council (NDC) to some states which were characterized by a number of features necessitating special consideration.
These included hilly and difficult terrains, low population density or sizeable share of tribal population, strategic location along borders with neighbouring countries, economic and infrastructural backwardness, and non-viable nature of state finances, he said in a reply to a question asked by Rampreet Mandal, the JD(U) member from Jhanjharpur.
“The decision was taken based on an integrated consideration of all the factors listed above and the peculiar situation of a state,” the minister said.
“Earlier, the request of Bihar for special category status was considered by the IMG which submitted its report on March 30, 2012. The IMG came to the finding that based on existing NDC criteria, the case for special category status for Bihar is not made out,” the minister said in the reply.

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