Making a strong pitch for his home state of Bihar, Railway Minister Lalu Prasad Yadav on Thursday made a slew of demands at the meeting of the Full Planning Commission called to approve the 11th Five-Year Plan.
At the meeting chaired by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Lalu demanded setting up of an IIT and IIM in the state, at least one polytechnic institute in each district and awarding Central University status to the Patna University, sources said.
Lalu also asked the Planning Commission to include Siwan in the list of backward districts in the state. Siwan, said officials, was the only district that had been excluded when the decision to include all state districts in the backward category was taken.
Lalu, said sources, also demanded that the special grant of Rs 1,000 crore to Bihar under the Backward Region Grant Fund be doubled to Rs 2,000 crore. He also stressed the need to evolve a long-term plan to deal with flood control in the state. He pointed out that irrigation, flood-control and road construction should get special attention during the current Five-Year Plan, which estimates a plan size worth Rs 60,000 crore for Bihar.
Source: The Express india, 9th Nov,2007
