The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs on Thursday approved allocation of enhanced funds for Bihar to the tune of Rs 12,000 crore as a special plan under the Backward Region Grant Fund for the 12th five year plan (2012-13 to 2016-17) against Rs 5,600 crore in the previous plan.

The Committee approved to continue the special plan for the KBK districts (Kalahandi-Bolangir-Koraput) of Odisha with an allocation of Rs.250 crore per annum in the remaining four years 2013-14 to 2016-17 of the Twelfth Five Year Plan .

Moreover, CCEA also gave approval to continue the special package for implementing drought mitigation strategies in Bundelkhand region of Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh in the remaining four years 2013-14 to 2016-17 of the Twelfth Five Year Plan with a total allocation of Rs.4400 crore for the entire Twelfth Five Year Plan period.

CCEA noted that the total allocation for the Twelfth Five Year Plan period for all the three programmes is Rs.17,650 crore (Rs.12000 crore for the special plan for Bihar, Rs.1250 crore @ Rs.250 crore per annum for the special plan for the KBK districts of Odisha and Rs.4400 crore for the Bundelkhand Package).

The District Component of BRGF, which was approved for implementation till 2012-13, was restructured by CCEA for the remaining four years (2013-14 to 2016-17) of the Twelfth Five Year Plan.

The Committee stated that the backward areas of the states covered under the state component of BRGF will be benefitted.

All the 38 districts of Bihar, eight districts of the KBK region and 13 districts of the Bundelkhand region were covered.

These programmes are continuing programmes and were under implementation during the Eleventh Five Year Plan also.

To a query whether the CCEA decision has politcal connotations, Information & Broadcasting Minister Manish Tiwari told reporters, “Every administrative decision should not be viewed with the politicl angle.”

Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar has long been demanding a ‘Special Category Status’ for his state which would enable him to get a host of benefit including extended tax breaks. It would also mean alteration of the current formula of 30% loan and 70% grant to 10% loan and 90% grant for centrally-sponsored schemes and external aid, besides fiscal concessions.

A special category status is accorded to a state on the basis of five conditions — hilly and difficult terrain, low population density and sizeable share of tribal population, strategic location along borders with neighbouring countries, economic and infrastructure backwardness and non-viable state finances. On these grounds, an inter-ministerial group, set up after the intervention of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, had earlier rejected the Bihar government’s plea to grant it the status of a special category state. So far, 11 states have been accorded this status: Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Sikkim, Tripura and Uttarakhand who are remote or hilly areas.