New Delhi:
Fresh from his Gujarat victory, Narendra Modi is expected to have his first encounter with the Centre today when the country's planning body National Development Council (NDC) meets to approve 12th Five Year Plan.
The meeting, which will be presided over by the Prime Minister, will be attended by various cabinet ministers and chief ministers from different states. West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee will be giving this meeting a miss. She will be represented by the state's finance minister Amit Mitra.
Mr Modi has in the past never lost an opportunity to take on Planning Commission and Centre on various issues and has often complained about step-motherly treatment meted out to his state. With Mr Modi's win, official sources said, the Centre is gearing up to counter him in the NDC meeting.
Among others Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa will attend the meeting today. Ms Jayalalithaa, who attended Mr Modi's swearing-in ceremony yesterday in Ahmedabad, chaired a meeting of the Ministers at the Secretariat, as part of the points to be discussed during the National Development Council meeting.
Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar's demand for special category status to his state may not be accepted at the meet after the Planning Commission said it did not meet the existing criteria.
Ahead of the meeting of National Development Council (NDC), where the demand will be once again raised by him, Mr Kumar met Finance Minister P Chidambaram at his residence on Wednesday to make a strong case.
During the meeting, Mr Kumar handed over to Mr Chidambaram a copy of the memorandum submitted to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh earlier to press for Bihar's long-pending demand to help spur growth.
The meeting came on a day when Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia said Bihar does not meet the existing criteria to be granted the status of special category state.
"Bihar does not meet the existing criteria according to which a state is deemed eligible for special category state. We do recognise that Bihar and some parts do have a special problem and as part of BGRF (Backward Regions Grant Fund) we have Bihar package," Mr Ahluwalia told reporters.
Special category status brings private investment in a state as investors get tax benefits. Bihar is demanding special category status, saying it is subject to floods. Likewise, Rajasthan has made a similar demand on the ground it is subject to drought.
Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Himachal Pradesh, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Sikkim, Tripura and Uttarakhand are among the states that have been granted special category status by the Centre.
(With inputs from PTI)
The meeting, which will be presided over by the Prime Minister, will be attended by various cabinet ministers and chief ministers from different states. West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee will be giving this meeting a miss. She will be represented by the state's finance minister Amit Mitra.
Mr Modi has in the past never lost an opportunity to take on Planning Commission and Centre on various issues and has often complained about step-motherly treatment meted out to his state. With Mr Modi's win, official sources said, the Centre is gearing up to counter him in the NDC meeting.
Among others Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa will attend the meeting today. Ms Jayalalithaa, who attended Mr Modi's swearing-in ceremony yesterday in Ahmedabad, chaired a meeting of the Ministers at the Secretariat, as part of the points to be discussed during the National Development Council meeting.
Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar's demand for special category status to his state may not be accepted at the meet after the Planning Commission said it did not meet the existing criteria.
Ahead of the meeting of National Development Council (NDC), where the demand will be once again raised by him, Mr Kumar met Finance Minister P Chidambaram at his residence on Wednesday to make a strong case.
During the meeting, Mr Kumar handed over to Mr Chidambaram a copy of the memorandum submitted to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh earlier to press for Bihar's long-pending demand to help spur growth.
The meeting came on a day when Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia said Bihar does not meet the existing criteria to be granted the status of special category state.
"Bihar does not meet the existing criteria according to which a state is deemed eligible for special category state. We do recognise that Bihar and some parts do have a special problem and as part of BGRF (Backward Regions Grant Fund) we have Bihar package," Mr Ahluwalia told reporters.
Special category status brings private investment in a state as investors get tax benefits. Bihar is demanding special category status, saying it is subject to floods. Likewise, Rajasthan has made a similar demand on the ground it is subject to drought.
Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Himachal Pradesh, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Sikkim, Tripura and Uttarakhand are among the states that have been granted special category status by the Centre.
(With inputs from PTI)
Track Latest News Live on NDTV.com and get news updates from India and around the world
