Nitish promises special status to backward states if non-BJP parties win in 2024

Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, who has been rallying political parties to form a robust opposition alliance, said on Thursday that all backward states will be granted special status if non-BJP parties manage to form the government at the Centre in 2024.

“If we get an opportunity to form the government, we will surely give backward states special status. I am not just talking about Bihar, but also about other states that should get special status,” he said to the media in reply to a question in Patna.

This comes against the backdrop of Nitish’s recent visit to Delhi, during which he met leaders of several parties to explore the possibility of stitching together an Opposition front to take on the BJP’s election machinery in the next general election.

It should be taken into account that the concept of special status for states disappeared after the government accepted the recommendations of the 14th Finance Commission. However, Bihar, Odisha and Jharkhand have persisted with the demand, citing backwardness and poverty.

The Bihar CM has been demanding special status for Bihar since 2007 despite the fact he remained an NDA ally for several years. The issue has been strategically raised by the Janata Dal (United) leader, sometimes to score political points ahead of elections and at other times, to put pressure on ally BJP.

If a state is granted special status, the centre-state funding ratio for centrally sponsored schemes is 90:10, much more favourable than the ratio for other states, according to an NDTV report.

Currently, there are 11 special category states in the country — Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir (now a Union Territory), Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Sikkim, Tripura and Uttarakhand.

The Constitution does not have a provision for any special category for states. However, a body called the National Development Council which was part of the now-defunct planning commission had recommended a special status for these 11 states based on a number of factors.

A 2018 reply by the government in Parliament listed these factors as hilly and difficult terrain, low population density and /or sizeable share of tribal population, strategic location along borders with neighbouring countries, economic and infrastructural backwardness and non-viable nature of state finances, reported NDTV.

-INDIA NEWS STREAM