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Karnataka will take part in the meet of Finance Ministers of southern States, called by Kerala to discuss the Terms of Reference of the 15th Finance Commission.
The meet, to be held at Thiruvananthapuram on April 10, is expected to discuss and arrive at a consensus on each State’s response to the Terms of Reference.
“So far, a few non-BJP States have expressed their willingness to take part in the meet,” said Karnataka Agriculture Minister and State representative at GST Council, Krishna Byre Gowda. “Other than host Kerala, West Bengal has supported the move and Andhra Pradesh has voiced the injustice meted by the Centre. Tamil Nadu has not yet made up its mind,” he added.
Progressive States led by Kerala and Karnataka have voiced their concerns on the reference or formula implementing the 15th Finance Commission and its distribution among States.
‘Political motive’
“The BJP has been desperate of late. People have been questioning their (the BJP’s) on-ground performance. And hence, I infer, they have brought out the Terms of Reference of commission to weaken the funding given to non-BJP-ruled States.
“Instead of incentivising those States which have made remarkable achievements in population reduction, stabilisation and implementation of Central schemes, progressive States are being penalised, by adopting wrong census reference, ” Byre Gowda said.
Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah had tweeted and written to the Centre couple of days ago asking the 15th Finance Commission to use the 2011 census data instead of the 1971 one. “The Centre is asking the 15th Finance Commission to use the 2011 census data, instead of the 1971 census that has been used so far, to determine devolution of taxes. This will further affect the interests of the South.
“The need to transfer resources to less-developed regions of the country is legitimate. We need to redress regional imbalances in development. The question is: ‘Should this be done by under investing in the South? Should development and population control not be incentivised?” Siddaramaiah asked Recommending the future course for the Finance Commission, he added: “It must bring new thinking to the table and give incentives to tax mobilisation efforts; growth engines such as Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Coimbatore, Kochi, etc; and education and employment of women (proxy for population control).”
Byre Gowda accused the BJP-led NDA government of failing to bring petrol and diesel prices under control and accused it of “betraying” the trust of the common man. “We have seen hike in fuel prices nine times during the past four years despite fall in global prices.”
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