Bihar deputy chief minister Sushil Kumar Modi and Bengal finance minister Amit Mitra (left) at the meeting in New Delhi on Wednesday. (PTI)

Patna, Jan. 18: The Bihar government used the annual pre-budget meeting convened by Union finance minister Pranab Mukherjee in New Delhi today to accuse the Centre of cutting down on financial support to the state and step up its demand for more funds in all sectors.

“Bihar has been maintaining an exemplary fiscal discipline. However, it is a matter of grave concern that despite the high development deficit and increasing proportion of the state in national population, the share of Bihar has been reduced in the 13th Finance Commission award,” said deputy chief minister Sushil Kumar Modi, who holds the state’s finance portfolio.

Modi, who attended the meeting, said that from 11.028 per cent of tax devolution in the 12th Finance Commission, the state’s share had come down to 10.917 per cent in the 13th Finance Commission.

He tried to impress upon Mukherjee that if Bihar had performed well on the fiscal front, it was because of the “good governance and sound policies adopted by the state government” whereas the Centre has failed to give the assistance due to the state.

“Bihar has shown a remarkable annual growth rate of 14.15 per cent commensurate with the high growth trend that the state has set since 2005-06. The state has consistently performed well despite inflationary and fiscal pressure. But the percentage share of the state shows a falling trend in the budgetary support from the Centre,” he said at the pre-budget meeting. Modi pointed out that gross budgetary support to the central plan was projected to grow by 19 per cent but that to the states would rise only by 10 per cent. “Contrary to our expectations of a higher support to the states as has been articulated at various forums, including the National Development Council, central assistance to the states is projected to increase from 1.18 per cent in 2011-12 to only 1.3 per cent by the end of the 12th plan period,” he said.

Ignoring the states at the cost of the Centre was a “dangerous trend” and went against the very concept of a federal economy and inclusive growth, Modi remarked. He also warned the Centre against imposing the onus of implementing the proposed national food security act on the states. “The resources needed to implement this act shall be huge and, thus, the burden of implementing it should not be put on the states,” he said.

The deputy chief minister blamed the Centre for failing to identify the below poverty line (BPL) families in Bihar and denying them their due benefits. “We have repeatedly stated that the poor in the state would not be able to take full benefits,” Modi said of the increased allocation in major social sector programmes. The Tendulkar report has found 54.4 per cent of Bihar’s population as living below the poverty line, which, Modi said, was “closer to reality”.

He demanded the Centre put in place an independent commission to identify the poor families, keeping in consideration the Tendulkar report, other studies and also the criteria decided by the Union government. “There should be no cap on the number of BPL families,” he said. Modi also demanded increased allocation in health, education, agriculture, infrastructure and other sectors from the Centre.