Why only Bihar, not Odisha?

BHUBANESWAR: After the Centre’s refusal to consider the demand for special category status to Odisha, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Thursday sought the intervention of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.‘’Odisha satisfies all conditions of a special category State except that it has no international border with any country. In almost all sectors, the State’s position is similar to that of Special Category States. Both you and the Planning Commission are aware of this fact. However, no positive step has been taken by the Centre so far,’’ Naveen said in a letter to the Prime Minister.The Chief Minister shot off the letter to the Prime Minister in the wake of a reply by Union Minister of State for Planning Ashwani Kumar in the Lok Sabha on Wednesday. ‘’I request your personal intervention on the matter to take appropriate steps for declaring Odisha as a Special Category State,’’ the Chief Minister said. Replying to a question of Arjun Meghwal, the Union Minister said requests for special category status have been received from State Governments of Odisha, Rajathan, Goa and Bihar. It is not feasible to accede the requests of Odisha, Goa and Rajasthan, he said.A delegation from Bihar submitted a memorandum to the Prime Minister in July with a similar demand. An inter-ministerial group has been constituted on September 8 to examine the memorandum, Kumar said.