Blitz Bureau
NEW DELHI: The Centre on July 22, rejected the JD(U)’s request for ‘special category’ status for Bihar during the all-party meeting.
No new states are being awarded ‘special category’ status at present, as the Indian Constitution does not accommodate such classification.
Earlier, on July 21, Manoj Kumar Jha, a leader of the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), said Bihar is requesting both special state status and a distinct financial package. He noted that the call for special status for Bihar has persisted since the state was split into Bihar and Jharkhand.
“This demand of Bihar (special state status) is called unrealistic by many people… This demand has been there since the division of Bihar and Jharkhand… Apart from political parties, we want a change in the policies of the central government which considers Bihar as a centre of labour supply… We want both, special state status and special packages,” Jha said.
The issue of special category status was initially discussed in a National Development Council (NDC) meeting held in 1969. During this session, the DR Gadgil Committee proposed a formula for distributing central assistance to state plans in India. Before this, there was no dedicated formula for fund allocation, and grants were allocated based on individual schemes. The Gadgil Formula, which received NDC approval, gave precedence to special category states such as Assam, Jammu & Kashmir, and Nagaland, ensuring that their requirements were prioritised in the allocation of Central assistance.
