India’s economic growth keeps fluctuating lately because it is based only on a few developed states as the Centre keeps neglecting the immense growth potentials in states like Bihar, argued chief minister Nitish Kumar on Saturday.
Squarely blaming the Congress-led UPA government’s economic policies for the steady decline witnessed in the country’s growth figures, Mr Kumar said such a dismal situation would persist longer if the Centre carried on with a lopsided strategy focusing only on developed states. Mr Kumar’s observations came at a ceremony for unveiling his government’s “report card” for the seventh consecutive year, at which he made a renewed appeal for granting Bihar special category state status.
“India’s growth rate has come down from a high of 9 per cent to the current low of about 5 per cent. Such fluctuation happens because India’s current growth depends on a few developed states while other states with high potentials for growth remain neglected,” said Mr Kumar, seeking a “paradigm shift in the country’s economic policies” for more inclusiveness.
Mr Kumar’s views assume political significance because the regional satrap and JD(U) stalwart, seen as a potential contender for the prime minister’s post in the 2014 LS polls, had announced at his party’s Adhikar Rally in Patna that he was in favour of the special category status being granted to several deserving under-developed states. On Saturday, he reiterated this stance, saying states like Bihar lingering below the national average in development indices should be considered for this central assistance.
Terming the developed states as “islands of growth” that the Centre has been concentrating to the economic detriment of the nation, Mr Kumar said: “Inclusive growth cannot be achieved unless Bihar and other underdeveloped states are given special emphasis.”
Mr Kumar also blamed the Centre for the failure of welfare schemes meant for the BPL section of India’s population, saying underreporting of the number of poor people was the main reason. He lamented that the matter, despite being raised frequently at the National Development Council (NDC) meetings, remained unresolved.