Patna, April 14: Bihar has upped the ante in its demand for being brought into the “special status” category of states though it doesn’t fulfil all the criteria needed for inclusion.

Chief minister Nitish Kumar has made a strong pitch for special status for Bihar, raising it in his meetings with both Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and finance minister Pranab Mukherjee. In his speech at the Bihar Divas celebrations on March 22, Nitish declared that the demand would be central to his fight for the rights of Bihar.

The status means special grants, lower or even no share of the state towards central schemes and tax holidays for investors. However, granting of special status depends on a set of indicators laid down by the Planning Commission.

They are:

n Hilly and difficult terrain

n Low population density and sizeable share of tribal population

n Strategic location along borders with neighbouring countries

n Economic and infrastructure backwardness

n Non-viable nature of state finances

Economists are quick to point out that Bihar does not meet all the criteria, especially the first two.

Politicians in Bihar publicly support the demand, but privately concede that central nod is difficult given the strict guidelines imposed by the Planning Commission. The government though continues to be optimistic. “Guidelines are no Lakshmanrekha, they can be changed,” remarked deputy chief minister Sushil Kumar Modi, justifying the demand.

Like all political parties, the RJD has been supporting the chief minister’s demand. “It is a demand which no political party can oppose if they want to survive here. But if one goes strictly by the guidelines, Jharkhand will be more qualified to get it (the status) than Bihar,” said a senior RJD leader.

The Bihar Assembly has passed a unanimous resolution demanding special status for the state. However, it is no wonder that leader of the Opposition in the Assembly Abdul Bari Siddiqui asked Nitish why he could not get special status for the state when he was a powerful central minister in the Atal Behari Vajpayee government. “But not even Lalu Prasad could get it for Bihar when he was a major player in the UPA-I government at the Centre,” retorted a JD (U) leader.

In May 2009, Nitish endorsed a book, Special Category Status: A Case for Bihar, in which he got the approval of economist Lord Meghnad Desai. The book interpreted hilly and difficult terrain to mean inaccessible terrain and “geographical isolation”. The case for Bihar has been made on the basis of poor infrastructure, poor resource base and remoteness of larger market, financial non-viability of the state and other factors. “A geographical distance of 130km from Madhubani to Patna takes about 10 hours to cover by the rail route, while it takes only 16 hours to travel by rail from Patna to Delhi, a distance of about 1,000km,” the book pointed out. It has also pointed towards recurring floods in north Bihar and drought in south Bihar as a claim for special status.

The book was released just before the Lok Sabha polls and Nitish was prompt in giving a call to all political parties in Bihar to make the grant of special status in the state a condition for extending support to any formation at the Centre. Senior Congress leader Digvijay Singh was prompt to respond by declaring that his party would be willing to grant special status to Bihar if Nitish extended his support to the Congress at the Centre. But then the UPA emerged a clear winner.

Experts pointed out that along with Bihar, several other states such as Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, Orissa, Jharkhand and Goa have been demanding special status. Giving special status to Bihar could open the floodgates with even Uttar Pradesh, which goes to polls next year, raising a similar demand.