Laloo in power but Bihar bonus just Rs 700 cr

For all the noise RJD chief Laloo Prasad Yadav made when the UPA Government was formed, the state has ended up with only Rs 700 crore more than what it got under the NDA. Finance Minister P. Chidambaram has provided Rs 3,225 crore in the Budget, comparable to Rs 2531.35 crore announced by the NDA Government as special compensation under Rashtriya Sam Vikas Yojana. This, when the RJD had demanded Rs 1,50,000 crore to make up for loss of sources of revenue after Jharkhand was carved out of Bihar five years ago.

It also falls short of the Rs 6,135 crore package that the NDA government was working on. According to a government document, 24 projects were identified by the Bihar cell in the Planning Commission with a special consultant appointed exclusively to deal with Bihar.

The announcement, however, cheered up Yadav, ahead of the state polls by the year-end. Add to that, an assurance from the Finance Minister that the package could be augmented, if necessary. Ex-deputy chairman of the Planning Commission K.C. Pant said the NDA government had been helping Bihar, specially in irrigation and power, through the special package.