Withdrawal of Special Category Status (SCS) to all the States by 2017 was a policy decision taken by the United Progressive Alliance Government in 2014, and it withdrew the status to Congress-ruled Himachal Pradesh and Uttaranchal that year, BJP State leader Y. Raghunath Babu said on Thursday. The UPA Government took the decision after a study of the loss incurred by the Central government owing to SCS and employment generated by giving tax and excise duty concessions, Mr. Raghunath Babu said at a media conference here.
As per the study, the Centre had incurred a loss of Rs. 25,000 crore. The SCS States generated three lakh jobs. The Centre lost Rs. 4 lakh per employee per year, while each employee was paid a salary of Rs. 1.20 lakh. Industrialists benefited by Rs. 2.80 lakh per employee.
Asserting that the Modi government would develop Andhra Pradesh into an industrial hub, he said that the State had sea ports, 1,000-km-long railway line, road connectivity, and National Highways. New industries would come by developing industrial corridors and augmenting infrastructure and not by SCS, he added.
Referring to Jana Sena founder Pawan Kalyan’s criticism of the special package as “stale laddus,” Mr. Raghunath Babu said that the actor would have to study the issue in depth and act responsibly. Mr. Pawan Kalyan should realise who had caused loss to A.P. and who was sincere in developing it. Former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had promised SCS only after Union Minister M. Venkaiah Naidu demand it in the Rajya Sabha. Had the UPA government been keen on it, it would have incorporated it in the Bill, he said. Mr. Raghunath Babu said that the 14th Finance Commission headed by Raghuram Rajan recommended withdrawal of SCS. It recommended reimbursement of revenue deficit of Kerala, Odisha, and West Bengal, which did not have SCS, and grant of Rs. 22,540 crore to A.P. over a five-year period.
