States petition Kovind on 15th finance panel

States petition Kovind on 15th finance panel

News:

1.Finance Ministers of six States met President Ram Nath Kovind and submitted a memorandum demanding 13 amendments to the Terms of Reference of the 15th Finance Commission.

Important Facts:

2.The Memorandum stated that “the terms of reference violate the federal principle as enshrined in the Constitution, erode the autonomy of all States and bring significant financial hardship to all States.”

3.The Memorandum was submitted by the Finance Ministers of Kerala, Delhi, West Bengal, Punjab, Andhra Pradesh and Puducherry.

4. The amendments requested in the Memorandum:

• Population data of 1971 should be used by the Finance Commission. Using the 2011 data would be akin to penalising these states for taking measures to control the population. States like Uttar Pradesh and Bihar would be awarded for their lack of initiative.
• Deletion of the clause in the terms of reference of the 15th Finance Commission which seeks to control “populists measures”. They argue that it is for the popularly elected government to decide what is “populist” and what is not.
• Deletion of the reference to Direct Benefit Transfer in which the Finance Commission said that the States would be assessed on the progress made by them in promoting DBT. DBT is not the right measure of development.
• The state share must not be decided on the achievement in implementation of flagship schemes of government of india. Popularly elected state government should get autonomy to decide its own programs and schemes.