BackKarnataka minister bemoans lack of South Indian representation in 15th FC
Krishna Byre Gowda outburst comes a day after the five-member Finance Commission, headed by N.K.Singh, held consultation meetings with the Karnataka govtThe Finance Commission decides how revenue earned from tax collections by the Centre is to be distributed among the states
PremiumKrishna Byre Gowda, the state cabinet minister and Congress leader from Karnataka on Wednesday, hit out at the 15th Finance Commission calling it unfortunate that the body had no representation from south India.
In a series of tweets, Gowda, who is Karnataka’s Rural Development and Panchayat Raj (RDPR) minister and the state’s representative to the goods and services tax (GST) council, said that the Centre could not even find one capable person from the south to be part of the commission.
“It’s unfortunate that Central Government could not find one capable person from South India to serve in the 5 member 15th Finance Commission. In (the) past many members from the South have done illustrious service to the Nation," Gowda wrote on Twitter.
Gowda’s outburst comes a day after the five-member commission, headed by N.K.Singh, held consultation meetings with the Karnataka government.
Karnataka has long since alleged unfair treatment to the state by the centre, especially in NDRF/SDRF allocations and devolution of taxes.
“Injustice was done to Karnataka in Central allocations during 2015-20. For eg. to meet the needs of drought and floods, Karnataka got ₹1,527 Cr under SDRF for the period of 2015-20, whereas Maharashtra got ₹8195 Cr," he said in the following tweet.
The Finance Commission decides how revenue earned from tax collections by the Centre is to be distributed among the states.
The previous state governments have observed that even though Karnataka is among other high performing states the state is being punished for its performance when compared to more populous states that get a higher allocation only due to the population factor. The Commission still follows the 2011 census and not 1971, which was declared as the base year for calculating devolution of taxes, the past governments have complained.
"The funds for dealing with crop losses due to drought and floods were also considerably lower than what the state had sought. Though Karnataka’s Information Technology sector has powered its revenues, the agricultural sector has witnessed a degrowth of 0.3%," the Finance Commission observed on Tuesday. It also raised alarm on the rapidly depleting groundwater table.
Karnataka chief minister, H.D.Kumaraswamy, in his memorandum to the commission sought that Central Government not to reduce the funding under centrally sponsored schemes both in terms of size as well as in the sharing pattern between Centre and state. Karnataka has been at the receiving end of low SDRF/NDRF allocations and Kumaraswamy sought that the Commission rectify this to help the drought prone state.
“I hope this failure of the Central Government will be overcome by the members of current Commission and do justice to the better performing states of the South. Instead of penalising, we hope they will reward performance and efficiency," Gowda wrote on Wednesday.
Unlock a world of Benefits! From insightful newsletters to real-time stock tracking, breaking news and a personalized newsfeed – it's all here, just a click away! Login Now!
