After Caste Census, Reservation Bill, Nitish Kumar Now Demands Special State Status For Bihar, Campaign To Be Initiated

Nitish Kumar declared on Thursday (17 October) his intention to launch a campaign advocating for the "special category status" for Bihar. The Chief Minister criticised the central government for refusing to grant this status, despite its importance for the state's development.

If the campaign takes place before the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, it could be seen as another clever move by him. This comes after the release of caste-based survey data and the increase in reservation limits for various castes.

The reservation limit has been raised from 50 per cent to 65 per cent for the scheduled castes, scheduled tribes, other backward castes (OBC), and extremely backward castes (EBC) as the caste census showed combined population of OBC and EBC to be 63 per cent.

By increasing the reservation, Nitish Kumar wants to counter the BJP's election strategies of Hindutva and ultra-nationalism by leveraging caste identities. Additionally, campaigning for special category status will effectively channelise state-related identity and emotions.

Kumar expressed that if Bihar is granted the special category status, it will witness development within a span of two years. Despite having a rich history and being the starting point for many things, the state is currently falling behind. Kumar further mentioned that a campaign will be initiated to strive for the attainment of the special category status.

The CM emphasised the need to grant special category status to Bihar, stating that this would be the key campaign issue. He further stated that if the Centre does not provide this status, it would imply a lack of interest in the development of the state.

During a daylong orientation programme and distribution of the first installment of grants for the Mukhyamantri Udyami Yojana (chief minister's entrepreneurship scheme), Kumar confidently stated that he is dedicated to working for the people and will continue to do so.

The chief minister argued in favor of the special category status by highlighting that the Centre tends to heavily publicise its schemes but only provides 60 per cent of the funds, leaving the states responsible for the remaining 40 per cent.

“This does not benefit the states in any manner. We are taking loans to work for the development of Bihar and making ends meet somehow,” he was quoted as saying by The Telegraph.

Under the special category status, the central government bears 90 percent of the cost of centrally-sponsored schemes, and any unutilised funds at the end of a fiscal year are carried forward rather than being forfeited.