Panel starts work on new yardstick for backward states TIMES NEWS NETWORK

New Delhi: The expert committee tasked with deciding the new yardstick for backward states, meant to benefit states such as Bihar, kicked off discussions on Tuesday with panel members looking at possible parameters.

    Sources present in the meeting said that some historical and social indicators were discussed but talks were largely exploratory.

    “It was a broad discussion. It will take a few more sittings before we come to any conclusion,” said Asian Development Research Institute’s Shaibal Gupta, who is seen as a key member of the committee given his support to the demand for special status for Bihar.

    The need for an overhaul of the current mechanism, which focuses on geographical location as the primary criteria for providing special grants and tax concessions to states, was necessitated by repeated demands from Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar, who has made the grant of a special status to the eastern state a pre-condition for his political support.

    Sources said that the finance ministry made a detailed presentation at Tuesday’s meeting on the assistance and grants that are provided to states based on the recommendations of the Finance Commission and the Planning Commission’s backward region grants Fund.

    The panel, headed by chief economic advisor Raghuram Rajan, is expected to look at close to 10 parameters, including health and literacy, before arriving at the new definition of backwardness.

    Apart from Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal and Odisha are also expected to gain from the exercise.

Raghuram Rajan