Bihar raises special status demand before 16th Finance Commission

    Patna, Mar 20 (PTI) The Nitish Kumar government in Bihar on Thursday made a fresh demand for special category status before the 16th Finance Commission, members of which are currently on a tour of the state.
    This was disclosed by Arvind Pangariya, the renowned economist who is also the chairman of the commission, while interacting with the media after receiving the state government's memorandum.
    "It was a lengthy presentation made in the presence of the chief minister, his deputies and other cabinet colleagues, besides top officials... prior to Bihar, we had covered 20 states. Our tours began in June last year, after the Election Commission lifted the Model Code of Conduct imposed during Lok Sabha polls," Pangariya said.
    "The demand for a special category status is part of the memorandum of the Bihar government... (but) this is not something that the Finance Commission has jurisdiction over," he said.
    "At the moment, no state has special category status. It used to be under the Planning Commission. States were divided into special and general categories. But that specification went away with the Planning Commission," he pointed out.
    Notably, in 2015, months after Prime Minister Narendra Modi assumed power, the Planning Commission was replaced with the NITI Aayog with Pangariya as its first vice chairman.
    Pangariya said he was aware that special category status for Bihar has been a "long-standing demand" which he encountered even during his stint with the NITI Aayog, but reiterated that "it is not something that the Finance Commission can deliver on".
    The chief minister, according to a statement from his office, also said that he had "high hopes" from the commission headed by Pangariya, "who is aware of Bihar's social and economic structure, by virtue of being the chancellor of Nalanda University".
    Pangariya also said another issue flagged by Bihar and several other states was that revenue collected by way of cess and surcharges went only to the Centre as it was not included in the divisible pool.
    He, however, underscored, "This is in accordance with the provisions of the Constitution. Any change would require the Union government to bring in an amendment which should be passed with a two-thirds majority in Parliament."
    Pangariya, however, also explained the "basis" for such powers being vested in the Centre, saying, "In the case of an emergency, like war, the Union government must be able to marshal resources very quickly."
    "In the past several months, we have covered, on an average, one state per week. It is good progress though we still have seven more states to cover... the commission has to submit its report by October 31 this year," he added.
    Another demand raised by at least 16-17 states, including Bihar, was to increase to 50 per cent from 41 per cent the share of state governments in net proceeds of central taxes, Pangariya said.
    He, however, made it clear, "We cannot say anything about it now... we cannot say what the commission is going to do. All five members, including the chairman, discuss every issue and form an opinion."

(This story has not been edited by THE WEEK and is auto-generated from PTI)