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The Reality of Special Category States
The "special category" status accorded to certain states in the Indian Union allowed for much higher per capita central assistance compared to other states to flow unto these states enabling some of them to march ahead and prompting demands from others for this status. But these special category states were backward due to reasons of geography, while for the states which are demanding this status today, issues linked to governance lay at the root of their backwardness. Is it time to revisit the criteria and include others into this exclusive category by excluding those who do not need such assistance any longer?
The views expressed in this paper are strictly personal. The author is grateful to the referee’s suggestions on the paper which have been taken into consideration. The author is also grateful to Niranjan Pant and Rakhee Bhattacharya for useful suggestions and advice.
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