PATNA: Bihar government placed the demand of special category status and immediate financial assistance of over Rs.1.59 lakh crore before the 16th finance commission, the members which came here on a three-day visit on Thursday. Chief minister Nitish Kumar, who was present at the meeting of the 16th Finance Commission, told the members that Bihar has more expectations from the team and hoped that its demands would be looked into considerably. Arvind Pangariya, a noted economist and chairman of the commission, told the media that they received the state government’s memorandum, which includes the special category status. “So far the demand for special category status is concerned, it’s beyond our jurisdiction,” he said. Pangariya said that at this moment, no state has special category status. “It used to be under the Planning Commission. States were divided into special and general categories. But that specification went away with the Planning Commission,” he added. The chairman, however, admitted that he was aware that Bihar has been demanding special category status for long. “When I was a part of the Niti Aayog, I too promoted it. But finance commission has nothing to do with special category demand,” he said.
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