BJP MP seeks progress status of Modi’s 2015 Bihar special package

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By Our Special Correspondent

New Delhi, April 4: In 2015, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), riding high on the extraordinary verdict of the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, had made a determined bid to wrest power in Bihar, and Prime Minister Narendra Modi had promised to loosen the purse strings while announcing a special package for the state to the tune of Rs 1.25 lakh crore.

The BJP MP Rajiv Pratap Rudy through a starred question in the Lok Sabha on the status of the implementation of the package announced by the prime minister eight years ago. The Ministry of Finance gave its written reply, which is without details, while being patchy about the works actually done on the ground.

Incidentally, the Ministry of Finance said in its written reply that airports in Purnea and Raxaul were part of the special Bihar package announced by Modi during a rally in Bihar in the run up to the election campaign. Nitish Kumar, the chief minister of Bihar had snapped ties with the BJP, was leading the grand alliance consisting of the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), Congress and the Left parties.

Ground reports suggest that even after eight years of the announcement of the special package for Bihar, the promised airports in Purnea and Raxaul remain on paper, though the district administrations claim to have done some works on land acquisition.

“Prime Minister’s Package for Bihar 2015 amounting to Rs 1,25,003 crore covering various sectors such as Roads and Highways, Rural Development, Petroleum and Natural Gas, Civil Aviation, Higher Education, Skill Development, Agriculture, Railways, Power, Telecommunication, Tourism, Health was announced on August 18, 2015,” said the Ministry of Finance in the written reply to Rudy.

The Ministry further stated that “other investments of Rs 40,657 crore comprising of residual liabilities of Special Plan for Bihar, Rs 8,282 crore, ongoing works of National Highways, Rs 12,375 crore, and Ultra Mega Power Project (UMPP), Rs.20,000 crore, were also announced as a part of the package”.

The Ministry, however, did not provide details of actual expenditure or progress of the special package so far. “Further, income tax relief on new capital investment in the form of Additional Investment Allowance and Higher Additional Depreciation in 21 backward districts was also notified on August 17, 2015 as part of the package. An amount of Rs 2,700 crore towards construction of new airport at Patna and for development of airports at Gaya, Raxaul and Purnea was included in the Prime Minister’s Package for Bihar 2015,” added the Ministry.

It further stated that the Union government through concerned Ministries/Departments implement schemes/programmes including sectoral items included in the Prime Minister’s Package for Bihar 2015 in Bihar. “Department of expenditure, Ministry of Finance, has provided Grants-in-aid towards residual liabilities of Rs 8,282 crore of the Special Plan for Bihar – State Component included in the Prime Minister’s Package for Bihar 2015 and has released an amount of Rs 7,816.1385 crore to the State of Bihar under the head ‘Special Assistance’ under ‘Transfers to States’,” added the Ministry.