Planning Commission adviser NC Saxena at the symposium in Patna. Picture by Jai Prakash

Patna, Dec. 22: Planning Commission adviser N.C. Saxena today took a dig at chief minister Nitish Kumar for repeatedly demanding special packages for Bihar.

“The state would have got Rs 12,000 crore from the Union government every year if it had ensured proper implementation of the central schemes,” Saxena said, virtually rejecting Bihar’s demand for more funds for welfare schemes.

“Nitish’s demand for special packages would become a political issue as many states would start asking for the same. Such demands are neither proper nor the Centre should give such doles. Packages are unethical,” he said while addressing a symposium, “Role of MLAs in Parliamentary Budgetary System and Control of Public Funds”.

Though Saxena praised the Nitish government for doing “a good job” in the past six years and achieving a 10 per cent growth rate, he said it was lagging behind on several fronts compared to other states.

“The state government has improved its immunisation to 61 per cent from 33 per cent and the percentage of institutional delivery has gone up from 22 to 48. But the figures are not satisfactory if compared to other states or the national average,” he said. “Besides, about 3.14 lakh posts of teachers in schools are vacant and the state needs 4,700 more schools. The school drop-out level is still 70 per cent,” he added.

“Bihar gets around Rs 1,800 crore under Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act. But if the state had spent the amount efficiently, it would have got Rs 4,500 crore,” the adviser said.

Though Saxena supported Bihar’s demand for a special category status, he said the Centre, through its undertakings such as National Thermal Power Corporation and NHPC, should invest Rs 5,000 crore to Rs 10,000 crore every year in the state for the next 10 years for its all-round development.