Something from History Nitish Kumar, Sushil Modi to meet Montek Singh Ahluwalia today May 15, 2013, 03.31 PATNA: Chief minister Nitish Kumar and deputy CM Sushil Kumar Modi along with a team of officials will meet Planning Commission deputy chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia in New Delhi on Wednesday to discuss the states annual plan size of Rs 34,000 crore proposed for 2013-14 fiscal year. Talking to mediapersons on the sidelines of his weekly Janata ke darbar mein up-mukhyamantri at his residence on Tuesday, Modi said they would discuss various aspects of the plan expenditure with the plan panel during the meeting. We will not accept anything less than Rs 34,000 crore, he asserted. The proposed figure is about eight times more than the plan size of Rs 4,379 crore for 2005-06. Modi, who also holds the finance portfolio, said only 25.9% of the proposed budget would be funded by the Centre. Nearly 46.8% would be borne by the state and 27.3% would be borrowed, he said and jibed the media should not proclaim tomorrow that the Centre granted Rs 34,000 crore to Bihar. Reiterating the demand for special category status to Bihar, Modi said, If Bihar is granted the status, the states share in centrally-sponsored schemes would reduce considerably. In 2012-13, Bihar furnished Rs 6,441 crore to receive central allocation of Rs 11,894 crore. The deputy CM admitted while the Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP) of Bihar had improved to 6.26% (from 4.32% in 2005-06), the state still had a long distance to cover to match the developed states at 10% GSDP or more. The increase in tax revenue (commercial taxes) is also the highest in Bihar with a target of Rs 13,643 in 2013-14, he said. Answering a reporters query on Union finance minister P Chidambarams recent visit to the state, Modi said, Chidambaram only repeated what he had said in his budget speech on February 28. Why did he wait for over two months to announce a committee to review the criteria for special category status? Modi went on to add only the next government that would be formed by NDA would fulfill Bihars demands. Refusing to remark on the reported back-channel negotiations between JD (U) and Congress, Modi, however, asked when parties within the UPA-II were leaving the government, why would other parties join it. On the RJDs Parivartan Rally in Patna on Wednesday, the BJP stalwart said, We have made good roads and freed the state of crime. Now, the RJD is holding a Parivartan Rally to change all that. People will not let that happen.
Posted on: Mon, 08 Dec 2014 14:03:25 +0000
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