Patna, January 07: The central proposal to enhance the allocation under the special plan for Bihar from Rs 1,000 crore to Rs 2,000 crore was ”not a new package” for the state, Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Kumar Modi said today.
“It is in no way a new or special package for Bihar,” Modi said while reacting to reports that the Centre”s Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs had approved a proposal to enhance the allocation for the special plan for Bihar from Rs 1,000 to Rs 2,000 crore in 2010-11.
The special plan allocation was part of the package announced by then Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee following the division of Bihar, Modi said, adding that at that time the NDA government had decided to provide Rs 1,000 crore every year as special package under the Rashtriya Sam Vikas Yojana to Bihar.
A total of Rs. 9,236.43 crore was earmarked for Bihar for the period from 2002-03 to 2012.
Chief Minister Nitish Kumar had met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh some time back and had urged him to allocate Rs 2,000 crore instead of Rs 1,000 crore every year.
The Centre”s proposal to enhance the allocation for the special plan was aimed at meeting the obligations within the stipulated time period as the Centre had so far given Rs 6,225.80 crore to the state.
Modi said he would rake up the issue related to according special status to Bihar and a special financial package for the state during the meeting of state Finance Ministers of the states in New Delhi called by Union Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee on January 19.
——–IANS