15th Finance Commission to explore ways to boost Assam's per-capita income

The 15th Finance Commission will explore ways to enhance per-capita income of Assam as it embarks on a two-day visit to the state tomorrow, an official statement said.

Despite acceleration in growth momentum, the state will have to take enormous developmental measures to catch up with national averages particularly with respect to per capita income, the commission said.

"It is a matter of concern that per capita income of Assam is significantly lower than all India average which itself is lower than other emerging markets. Commission, therefore, would seek to explore opportunity of what structural, administrative and other changes are necessary by way of augmenting resources of state and also its proper utilization," it added.

The 15th Finance Commission, led by Chairman N K Singh, will assess the state of the finances of Assam, its socio-economic challenges and understand the efforts of the state government to tackle these.

"There are significant opportunities for accelerating the momentum in the state's health, educational and economic outcomes. Demographic diversities give rise to myriad socio-cultural conditions and contingencies offering developmental challenges of various forms," it said.

The other members of the Commission include Shaktikanta Das, Anoop Singh, Ashok Lahiri and Ramesh Chand.