Nitish pushes hard for Bihar revamp

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New Delhi, Dec 9: He may have inherited a state with empty coffers, but chief minister Nitish Kumar is leaving no stone unturned in seeking the Centre’s aid for rebuilding Bihar. His argument: talk of India achieving a high growth rate is not possible if Bihar lags behind.

Since the time he arrived in Delhi on Wednesday, Mr Kumar has been putting forward his regime’s roadmap for development to the Union government, in a manner reminiscent of Chandrababu Naidu’s aggressive bargaining for Andra Pradesh with the then NDA regime. But unlike Mr Naidu, who was key to the coalition staying in power, Mr Kumar does not have that kind of leverage.

Nevertheless, with missionary zeal, Mr Nitish Kumar has sought financial and industrial development packages for the state, which had a public debt of Rs 40,496 crore as on 31 March 2003. On Friday, he not only held a meeting with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, but also met finance minister P Chidambaram, home minister Shivraj Patil and Planning Commission deputy chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia—all in a day.

He says he has apprised the PM of the huge public debt which, if not addressed immediately by the Centre, will result in the entire socio-economic fabric of the state being torn as under. Seeking additional investment for rebuilding Bihar, Mr Kumar said that apart from historical reasons, the state has slipped further after bifurcation: power and industry have suffered most, and there is a strong case for additional investment.

Besides, he sought special packages for Bihar like those offered to Himachal Pradesh and the north-east states. Bihar’s GSDP is lower than these states. While special packages have been announced for these states by the Centre, a financial package should also be given to Bihar in those lines, he contends.

Asking the Prime Minister to declare Bihar an industrially backward state, he put forward proposals including the enhancement of the central assistance for growth centres; change in financial assistance package in the integrated industrial development centre project; tax-free areas for a period of 10 years; and a subsidy on capital investment.

But he was not seeking aid for only new programmes. He asked the PM that a demand for Rs 40,020 crore made by the previous RJD regime in the state should be reopened and considered for the development of the state.