Nitish Kumar in a position to get Bihar special status, should ‘strike’: Congress
The Hindu
Congress questions Bihar CM Nitish Kumar's inaction on special category status demand despite NITI Aayog's support.
The Congress on July 15 sought to know what Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar is doing about the demand for special category status for the State and asserted that "he should strike" as he is in a position to get this done now.
The Opposition party's remarks come after Bihar Ministers claimed that the latest report of NITI Aayog's Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) India Index 2023-24 vindicated the State's long-standing demand for greater Central financial assistance.
On July 12, NITI Aayog released the SDG India Index 2023-24 — an assessment of the country's sustainable development. Bihar has figured at the bottom of the index despite improvements on some parameters.
Congress general secretary in-charge communications Jairam Ramesh said senior Ministers in Bihar are now arguing that NITI Aayog's latest analysis vindicates their demand for special category status in the matter of Central assistance to the State.
"Basically this would mean that instead of 70% of such assistance being as a loan, only 10% would be," Mr. Ramesh said.
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"But instead of giving press statements and passing resolutions in party meetings, what is the Bihar CM (Nitish Kumar) doing about this demand? He has talked and talked and talked while doing nothing about it," the Congress leader said in a post on 'X'.