15th Finance Commission to hold its first meeting today
NEWDELHI: The newly constituted 15th Finance Commission will hold its first meeting on Monday after meeting finance minister Arun Jaitley.
However, an official of the commission speaking under condition of anonymity said it will be a courtesy call with Jaitley and the views of the finance ministry on the terms of reference of the Finance Commission will be sought separately. “A press statement will be issued after the meeting,” the official said.
Former revenue secretary NK Singh was last week named head of the commission, and its terms of reference have been notified by the government.
Apart from Singh, members of the commission include former economic affairs secretary Shaktikanta Das and adjunct professor at Georgetown University Anoop Singh. Bandhan Bank chairman and former chief economic adviser Ashok Lahiri and Niti Aayog member Ramesh Chand have been appointed parttime members. The commission, whose recommendations will come into effect for the five years starting April 1, 2020 has been asked to submit its report by October 30, 2019.
Apart from performing its constitutionally mandated job of deciding on the distribution of shareable central tax proceeds among centre, states and local bodies for the first time in the post GST era, the 15th Finance Commission has been asked to recommend appropriate levels of general and consolidated government debt and deficit levels for the Centre and states.
The commission has also been asked to propose measurable performance-based incentives in areas such as efforts made by the states in expansion and deepening of the tax net under GST.