Odisha forms 4th state finance commission

The Odisha government has constituted the fourth state finance commission with former bureaucrat Chinmay Basu as its chairman for devolution of funds to the panchayati raj institutions and urban local bodies (ULBs).

The commission has got the Governor’s nod on October 31.

Apart from Basu, the commission consists of Adwait Kumar Mohanty, retired Professor of Economics, Utkal University, as member and Pradeep Kumar Biswal, additional secretary, finance department, as member secretary.

The commission will recommend the ways and means for devolution of resources from the state level to the panchayat institutions and urban local bodies for five years commencing April 1, 2015. It will submit its report to the government by April 30, 2014.

The commission will make recommendations on the principles governing the distribution between state and panchayati raj institutions and the municipalities of the net proceeds of taxes, duties, tolls and fees leviable by the state and the grants in aid to the gram panchayats, panchayat samitis, zilla parishads or the municipalities from consolidated fund of the state.

It would also suggest measures to improve the financial position of the gram panchayats, panachayat samitis, zilla parishads and municipalities.

Meanwhile, chief secretary Jugal Kishore Mohapatra has requested the additional chief secretaries, secretaries, heads of departments to extend cooperation and furnish the required information to the finance commission.

Since the commission is required to work under a tight time schedule and submit its report within a short period, the concerned collectors are directed to ensure proper coordination and submission of consolidated information on panchayati raj institutions and ULBs for their districts, Mohapatra wrote.

The commission will review the implementation of the recommendation of third state finance commission.

It may be noted that  as per recommendation of the third state finance commission, the  government had provided Rs 5,048.10 crore to panchayati raj institutions and urban local bodies for five year from 2010 to 2015 as a part of devolution of resources to the local bodies.