CSS should be done away with in next 2 years: Khattar

Centrally-sponsored schemes (CSS) should be done away with in the next two years and the states should be allowed greater flexibility to raise funds, Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar today said.
Speaking at the first meeting of the governing council of Niti Aayog chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi here, Khattar suggested allocation of the earmarked funds to states as "flexi-funds" for achieving sectoral targets.
"The Union Budget allocates about 59 per cent of the central plan funds as central plan assistance (CPA) to states and the balance 41 per cent of central plan funds are allocated in the form of CSS, he said.

"The straitjacketed conditionalities of CSS do not allow any flexibility to meet local needs which results in states either conforming to a uniform eligibility and strategic posture, or losing out on resource allocation," he said.
Khattar said that states should be given greater liberty in opting for strategies to achieve the national goals.
"I am further suggesting that future devolution of the CPA should be on a formula different from the Gadgil-Mukherjee formula. The present classification of public expenditure into plan and non-plan expenditure also needs to be modified," the Haryana chief minister said.
Urging the Niti Aayog to recognise that states are not homogeneous, he said that states should collectively deliberate upon the subjects on the agenda of the Aayog and do the groundwork for defining the national goals, the sectoral targets and the achievable indicators.

"As India faces a huge infrastructure gap, I believe that states must be allowed greater flexibility to raise funds from the market to finance infrastructure projects. A method for mopping up market resources is to allow designated state entities to issue tax-free bonds to finance infrastructure projects," Khattar said.