The central government on Thursday ruled out the possibility of giving special category status to any states including the northeastern states.
“There is no such planning to give special category status to any state,” said union minister of state for statistics and planning Rao Inderjit Singh while replying to a query raised by the Congress MP in the Rajya Sabha, Ripun Bora.
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The northeastern states, Andhra Pradesh, Bihar and West Bengal have been demanding that the Centre grant them special category status.
Also read: Will bring special category status to NE states: Cong
The status of special category states, which the northeastern states had been enjoying for several years, has been scrapped by the BJP-led NDA government.
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“I wanted to know if scrapping of special category status to Assam and northeastern states is a violation of cooperative federalism,” said Bora.
The union minister, however, said that Niti Aayog is promoting cooperative federalism and competitive federalism in the country.
On a query whether the Government of India is documenting better performing states to promote competitive federalism, Singh said, “We have not prepared any document. However, the suggestion is good and we will think about it.”