15th finance commission in TN, begins consultations

The 15th Finance Commission Wednesday began a four-day consultation process with various stakeholders including political parties, even as the main opposition party DMK raised the issue of poor allocation of funds to the state.

Commission Chairman N K Singh met leaders of major political parties, representatives of local governments and economists here.

The interaction has benefited the commission in understanding some of the critical assumptions which are necessary for it to come up with appropriate recommendations at the end of deliberations, Singh told reporters.

The commission will hold discussions with the state government tomorrow.

In a memorandum, DMK raised the issue pertaining to poor allocation of funds to the state.

"...Tamil Nadu receives among the lowest allocations per-capita from the Central Tax Revenue Pool.

In a democracy bound to federalism, there must be net transfers from state to state in the interest of inclusive development. We expect that and support the principle and the practice whole-heartedly," DMK said.

CPI(M), among other issues, raised its objections to a clause in the Commission's Terms of Reference that questioned the necessity of providing revenue deficit grants to the states.

The left party, in a memorandum, urged the commission to drop the clause, as it "violated" provisions of the constitution.

The commission had earlier visited Kerala.