Resource crunch

Higher tax-GDP is a must for financing security and development

The final report of the Fifteenth Finance Commission maintains continuity in some areas, while making some major changes in others. The report was greatly anticipated — with some concern in many quarters — because the terms of reference provided to the Commission went further in straining federal norms than in previous iterations. The Commission has faithfully considered these fresh terms of reference, and in some cases minimised their impact. The most controversial such change in the reference was the instruction to shift from the 1971 Census to the 2011 Census when it came to determining allocations to the states. On