A senior Government official told The Hindu that the Centre was planning to make up with plan funds transfers the losses States such as Assam and Bihar suffered on account of the altered criteria. “In absolute terms, all States will receive more money from the Centre,” the source said.
Last Thursday, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar wrote in a letter to Mr. Modi: “I urge you to make special arrangements for the expected loss to a poor State like Bihar after implementation of 14th Finance Commission recommendations to ensure increase in plan expenditure.” Mr. Nitish Kumar said initial estimates showed that the State would face about 1.3 per cent point loss in share in the overall amount due to the 14th Finance Commission recommendations.
Bihar is one of the States for which Mr. Jaitley announced special financial assistance in his Budget on Saturday.