AGARTALA, June 16 (TIWN): Despite all odds, Tripura Chief Minister Manik Sarkar reached Delhi to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi to take up the issues related to central grant cut and special category status. Sarkar’s close aide, Minister Bhanulal Saha keeping hopes on Modi-Manik meet said, “Let us see what happens, we need the special category tag as the land-locked state is facing heavy financial crisis.” Manik-Modi relation turned sour as Manik was not invited in historic Kolkata-Dhaka-Agartala bus service inauguration on June 6; but Manik Sarkar managed to meet PM Modi at Delhi on Tuesday where the appointment of the Chief Ministers of other north eastern states with PM Modi usually take much longer . According to the sources, Manik Sarkar after long talks with Modi has ended his meeting on Tuesday. Speaking to Tripura media at New Delhi, Sarkar said; “No clear picture has come out today during the meeting, therefore I am not sure whether Tripura will be able to get the the special category tag. "However, sources informed that during the Modi-Manik meeting, certain issues like the northeastern states including Tripura getting the special category tag were discussed. Interestingly, Manik Sarkar has yet again failed to convince getting the "special category" tag for Tripura. Tripura Chief Minister Manik Sarkar has been demanding special grant for the State to reduce the State’s financial burden following the recommendations of the 14th Finance Commission. In a series of letters addressed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the Chief Minister acknowledged the State would be benefited after increase in the share of Central tax from 32 to 42 per cent.

Finance Minister Bhanulal Saha at the civil secretariat, hoping for a fruitful meeting said, “Tripura would face development constraints if the status is withdrawn, as the states were given the special category status in view of their backwardness, hilly composition and remoteness.”

CM Manik Sarkar, prior to the meeting expressed concerns over the Centre's announcement to withdraw the status. He said that the Tripura Government has written many a times to PMO office demanding for the special category tag to the state, but no reply has been forwarded further.

Adding to that, Saha said that the abolition of Planning Commission would cost dearly for a State like Tripura, he contended while citing that the State would face a deficit of Rs 17,700 crore for the next five years after the abolition of the Planning Commission. It means that the State would not receive Rs 3,556 crore annually during the plan period.

The funding pattern for the special category states for central schemes was in the 90:10 ratio where 90 percent of the total expenditure is borne by the Centre while ten percent is contributed by the state.

“The share pattern of Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana has been changed from 90:10 to 50: 50 which would appear as a major burden for the State, Sarkar pointed out,” adding Saha said after studying the 14th Finance Commission recommendations and the union budget for the current fiscal, it appears that the special category status of the northeastern states is going to be discontinued.

In a letter written to PM Modi, Sarkar inked that it was random move that would only facilitate private capital profit maximization at the cost of welfare programmes. If the Planning Commission itself is dismantled, the allocation for states will be decided by the Finance Ministry which will only lead to further centralisation and bring in political bias as far as the states are concerned, the letter inked again.