Special Category Status to A.P was an issue: Rajiv Kumar

NITI Aayog Vice-Chairman Rajiv Kumar said the demand for granting Special Category Status (SCS) to Andhra Pradesh (A.P.) was an issue to be ‘thought about,’ on the ground that the State’s per capita income was higher than the national average and many other States were badly lagging behind it (A.P.).

Asked if he meant that A.P. did not qualify to be given SCS, Mr. Kumar replied that it was ‘something he does not handle’ and if the State applied for the special status, it was to be pursued.

Addressing media persons after visiting the Real-Time Governance (RTG) Centre at the Secretariat here on Thursday, Mr. Kumar said he spoke to the Expenditure Secretary about the possibility of exempting the State’s contribution in some of the Externally Aided Projects which is accounted as part of the fiscal deficit, to give A.P. the fiscal space that helps in grappling with the fallout of bifurcation.

The NITI Aayog takes 3% as the threshold for the fiscal deficit of all States combined.

Mr. Kumar said the NITI Aayog would closely follow the impressive progress achieved by A.P. against the backdrop of the Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu’s vision resonating with that of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to build a ‘new India’ by 2022.