New Delhi: Nitish Kumar’s assertion for a special state category for Bihar has been jeopardized by the former Chief Economic Advisor and Current RBI governor- Raghuram Rajan. The Rajan panel report has made a case for ending the ‘special category’ criteria for providing additional assistance to poorer states, as it ranked Goa and Kerala as the most advanced state and Odisha and Bihar the least.
The committee, headed by Raghuram Rajan was set up by the government amid demand for “special category” status by Bihar, suggested a new methodology for devolving funds on states based on a ‘Multi Dimensional Index (MDI)’.
According to the details of the report, the committee has suggested that the 28 states be split into three categories – least developed, less developed and relatively developed — depending upon their MDI scores.
As regards the allocation of funds, the report suggested that each state should get a basic fixed allocation and an additional allocation depending on its development needs and development performance.
Bihar along with some other states has been demanding “special category” status to get more funds from the centre. Based on the MDI scores, the 10 least developed states are Odisha, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Meghalaya, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan.
The committee, headed by Raghuram Rajan was set up by the government amid demand for “special category” status by Bihar, suggested a new methodology for devolving funds on states based on a ‘Multi Dimensional Index (MDI)’.
According to the details of the report, the committee has suggested that the 28 states be split into three categories – least developed, less developed and relatively developed — depending upon their MDI scores.
As regards the allocation of funds, the report suggested that each state should get a basic fixed allocation and an additional allocation depending on its development needs and development performance.
Bihar along with some other states has been demanding “special category” status to get more funds from the centre. Based on the MDI scores, the 10 least developed states are Odisha, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Meghalaya, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan.