•Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has reiterated the long-standing demand to be granted special category status by the Centre.
•The demand for special category status right now is significant because Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) depends on support from Mr. Kumar’s Janata Dal (United), which has 12 seats in the new Lok Sabha.
•Notably, the Bihar Cabinet had passed a resolution in 2023 demanding special category status to the State.
•Bihar’s per capita income of around ₹60,000 is among the lowest in the country and the State lags behind the national average in several human development indicators as well.
•Bihar fiscal situation has also been affected by its bifurcation that caused industries to move to Jharkhand, lack of sufficient water resources for irrigation, and frequent natural disasters.
•The most recent Bihar caste based survey of 2022 indicates that nearly a third of the State’s people live under the poverty line.