Centre sitting over funds for Bihar flood relief work: Nitish Kumar

Referring to release of funds for flood relief and rehabilitation work in Bihar, state Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Monday accused the Centre of being partisan towards the state, as it did not provide adequate aid to overcome the devastation caused by Kosi floods.

"The Centre has done great injustice to Bihar. We could not get the relief fund as per norms despite the Prime Minister himself declaring Kosi tragedy a national calamity," Nitish Kumar told reporters here after his visit to the Planning Commission to finalise state's annual plan size.

The extent of injustice can be understood from the fact that the state could not get any help from the Central Relief Fund (CRF) too, which is meant for the entire country, he said adding, "CRF is our right and not a favour". "We had a negative balance of Rs 800 crore in CRF," he added.

Kumar maintained that relief should have been granted by now as rehabilitation and reconstruction package were needed. "There are hardly five or six days left for the elections to be announced and the model code of conduct will be applicable," he said.

The matter was pending with the Government of India's high-level committee and there was no concrete proposal with the Planning Commission at the moment. He, however, stressed the state would seek its support and raise the issue during the full budget after the elections.link