Nitish Kumar meets PM, asks for more central fund

Prime Minister's Office terms this meeting as a courtesy call

Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar met Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday for the first time since he stepped into office again last month. Kumar was in national capital to attend Prime Minister's meeting about Ganga Action Plan. At the one-on-one meeting earlier, the Bihar Chief Minister said he raised the issues regarding the implementation of 14th Finance Commission's recommendations, due to which, he claimed, Bihar will lose Rs  50,000 crore in central grants and aids. He asked the Center to compensate state's losses. However, the Prime Minister's Office termed this meeting as a courtesy call.

Emerging from the meeting, the Chief Minister said he raised the issue of implementation of the Finance Commission recommendations which he contended will lead to an "estimated loss of Rs  10,000 crore in 2015-16 and Rs . 50,000 crore in next five years" to the state. He said the Centre's share in Centrally-sponsored schemes has been decreased. "Altogether, it has been a loss to Bihar. That is why I have requested that Bihar should be compensated for this," Kumar told.

"The second issue that I have raised is that there is a question mark now also on the special assistance that Bihar used to get under BRGF (Backward Regions Grant Fund) after the bifurcation of the state in 2000. Our doubts should be resolved. We should get that money and we should keep getting that money even in future," he said.