Ashwani Kumar addresses reporters in Patna. Picture by Ranjeet Kumar Dey

Patna, May 30: The Centre today said centrally sponsored schemes would be rationalised for better implementation, toeing the Bihar government’s vociferous demand.

Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar has been raising the issue on various platforms, demanding that the Centre should have fewer roles in deciding the schemes for the states and it should instead be left to the states and the Centre should confine itself to broad policymaking.

“The central government is rationalising the centrally sponsored schemes. Of 120 schemes being run by the Centre, just 20 account for 80 per cent of the total funds of the schemes. We will reduce it to 30-40 schemes,” Union minister of state for planning Ashwani Kumar said, while speaking at the party’s state headquarters at Sadaqat Ashram.

Kumar was in the state capital to take part in a two-day regional meet of five states to discuss the approach paper of the Twelfth Five Year Plan. He rejected the demand for according special status state category to Bihar and said: “This (the demand for a special state) is beyond the domain of the Planning Commission. Rather, it is decided by the National Development Council (NDC) according to the certain norms and criteria. We have heard them and will discuss the issue in future.”

Stating that Nitish, during the regional meet, suggested that beneficiaries particularly below poverty line families should be given cash subsidy, he said: “It is not that this issue is being raised for the first time. Other states have also raised the point. The Union cabinet will take a decision in this regard at an appropriate time.”

The minister, however, asserted that the UPA-led central government has been generous enough in sanctioning more than adequate funds to the state in the past seven years and assured that funds would not be a constraint to Bihar’s development.

“We have raised the plan size from Rs 16,000 crore in 2004-05 to Rs 24,000 crore in 2011-12, which is a phenomenal increase. Of this, Rs 8,000 crore is directly given by the Centre in different forms like schemes, grants, and aids among others. We have also doubled the special plan funds from Rs 1,000 crore to Rs 2,000 crore,” he said.

The planning minister, who was flanked by state Congress president Choudhary Mehboob Ali Kaiser, media department chairman Prabhat Kumar Singh and a host of senior leaders, admitted that the state has recorded an overall growth but there are areas of concern too such as agriculture, industries, education and health.

The state has recorded agricultural productivity of 1,900 quintals per hectare, whereas Punjab’s productivity is three-fold at 4,300 quintals per hectare, Ashwani said, adding that health is another area which is a neglected one as the state government has earmarked a meagre amount of Rs 300 crore against a plan outlay of Rs 20,000 crore in the last fiscal.

Kumar added that he has requested Nitish not to misuse the funds given the Centre and spend it in a judicious manner so that desired goal could be achieved.