Eastern Zonal Council meet: CM Nitish Kumar asks Centre to grant special status to Bihar

Patna (Bihar) [India], December 10 : Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Sunday asked Centre to grant special category status to Bihar during the 26th meeting of the Eastern Zonal Council in Patna chaired by Union Home Minister Amit Shah.
During the meeting of Bihar CM and Union Home Minister at the 26th Eastern Zonal Council meeting, Bihar CM said that we wanted the Central government to conduct a census on a caste basis.
"We were trying for this from the beginning. For this, in the years 2019 and 2020, a proposal for caste-based census was unanimously passed in the Bihar Legislature and sent to the Central Government. Then we met the Prime Minister along with representatives of all parties. No consideration was given to this by the Central Government, Bihar CMO stated.
He further said that since 2010, we have been demanding 'Special State' status for Bihar. Bihar is a very historical state, despite continuous development, Bihar is far below the national average in the parameters of development.
"Bihar fulfils all the conditions for the status of a special state. We hope that you will definitely think about giving 'Special State' status to Bihar," Bihar CMO stated.
''The CM urged the Centre to accord special status to Bihar in the meeting. Bihar has been raising the issue of Special status to the state since 2010. The fresh demand was necessitated by findings of the caste survey carried out by the grand alliance government in the state,'' a CMO statement said.
The CM further demanded that the Centre should place two amendment bills raising the quota for deprived castes from 50 to 65 per cent in state government jobs and educational institutions in the 9th Schedule of the Constitution to make them to make them immune to legal scrutiny.
"The reservation limit in the state has been increased from 50 per cent to 65 per cent. A law has been passed for this. 10 per cent reservation is already available for economically weaker people of the general category. Altogether the total number of reservations has reached 75 per cent. Our government has accepted the new reservation law from the Central Government in the Constitution," it stated.
Earlier in November, Bihar CM put pressure on the Central government to give special status to Bihar and informed that a campaign will be launched in the state accordingly.
Union Home Minister and Minister of Cooperation Amit Shah had chaired the 26th meeting of the Eastern Zonal Council in Patna, Bihar. Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and senior ministers from Odisha, West Bengal, Bihar and Jharkhand attended the meeting. The secretary of the Inter State Council Secretariat, the chief secretaries of member states, senior officials of state governments and central ministries and departments were also present in the meeting.