Centre rejects demand for Bihar package

The Central government on Friday rejected the Janata Dal U demand for a special package for Bihar made in the Lok Sabha. Turning down the demand,Minister of State for Finance Namo Narain Meena said in the course of his reply to a private members Bill that Bihar was already receiving substantial funds from the Centre. The demand for the special package and according special category status to Bihar was raised by JDU member Ranjan Prasad Yadav through a Constitution Amendment Bill 2009. Yadav sought a one-time grant of Rs 90,000 crore and Rs 30,000 crore per annum for five years. He was backed by his party colleagues Mangani Lal Mandal,Mahabali Singh,Bhudeo Choudhary and Monazir Hassan. The Planning Commission,according to the minister,has already constituted an inter-ministerial group to deal with the issue of development of Bihar. He said the 13th Finance Commission had already raised allocation of funds by 129 per cent to Rs 1,72,000 crore in 2010-15 from Rs 75,000 crore recommended by 12th Finance Commission in 2005-10.