Southern states want reframing of ToR of 15th Finance panel
Three nonBJP ruled southern states on Tuesday demanded reframing of the terms of reference (ToR) of the 15th finance commission, saying these were against the principles of federalism as laid down in the Constitution.
In a first-of-its-kind move, the finance ministers of Kerala, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, which stare at drastic cuts in central transfers, met here and said the terms were against the interests of progressive states and would result in loss of revenue.
The Congress-ruled union territory of Puducherry also participated.
The states opposed the ToR recommendation for using the 2011 Census to calculate population for allocation of union tax revenue in place of the 1971 census used by the previous finance commissions. AIADMK-ruled Tamil Nadu and TRS-ruled Telangana stayed away from the conference hosted by Kerala.
The terms were unprecedented because of the in-built “conspicuous bias”, Kerala chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan said in his inaugural address. The ToR framed by the Centre could prevent the finance commission from fulfilling its constitutional responsibility, he said.
“Therefore, it is only proper for all of us to appeal to the Union government to reframe the terms of reference,” Vijayan said, adding the goods and services tax had eroded fiscal autonomy of states.
Backing the three states, senior Congress leader P Chidambaram tweeted the ToR were “seriously flawed” and would impact better-performing states.
Earlier, he had said the Centre had “lit a fire” and that it should be doused before the southern “flames scorch the federation”.
Andhra finance minister Yanamala Ramakrishnudu said they were not blaming the finance commission.
The state was against ToR “unilaterally” stipulated by the Centre without consulting the states.
The best-performing states were being punished and the worst ones rewarded, Puducherry chief minister V Narayanasamy said: “We have to revolt against the Union government for our rights. It is high time that the government of India changes the ToR and includes Puducherry also in the ToR.”
Karnataka agriculture minister Krishna Byre Gowda said all progressive states had been “disincentivised” through the ToR.
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: