Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar criticised the Central government on Monday for its “step-motherly treatment” of the State.
To drive home his point, Mr. Kumar cited the “losses” the State incurred due to misallocation of urea and the 1996 India-Bangladesh treaty over the sharing of the Ganga waters. “This [the misallocation of urea] has led to a severe shortage in Bihar, with its farmers bearing the brunt of this myopic policy.”
Union Ministers themselves have admitted that Bihar's share of urea was being given to Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra, he pointed out.
Mr. Kumar blamed the closure of the Farakka power plant on the treaty India and Bangladesh signed on December 12, 1996 over the sharing of the Ganga waters. “The disproportionate allocation of the Ganga waters to Bangladesh had resulted in the plant being shut down.”
At that time, the State government (of Lalu Prasad's Rashtriya Janata Dal) had not protested against the treaty, which Mr. Kumar said did not benefit Bihar in any way, though it was ravaged by floodwaters.
“At the time of its entry in India, the discharge of the Ganga was 400 cusecs, but by the time it exited the country, it was 1,600 cusecs. If Bihar had [been given] this excess water, the Farakka plant would have played a crucial role in alleviating the State's power shortage,” he said.
