The NK Singh-headed 15th Finance Commission submitted its final report to the President Ram Nath Kovind on November 9. In its report the panel stated about State-specific deliberations that are required to be addressed and the key challenges faced by the people in the State.
In its report submitted to the President, the Commission mentioned State-specific requirements and considerations of each of India’s 28 States on board.
Other than its main recommendations pertaining to the delegation of funds between the Centre and the States during 2021-22 to 2025-26, the Commission addressed terms such as new non-lapsable fund for financing national security and defence spending, and offering performance incentives for States that deliver on reforms.
The report is titled as “Finance Commission in Covid Times” and it also depicts the slew of measures taken to maintain the balance between the Union and the States. Yesterday, the Commission presented two more volumes as part of its submissions.
While the first two focuses on the State of the Union government’s finances, other volumes were completely dedicated to States.
The Commission is chaired by N.K. Singh and other members are Ajay Narayan Jha, Anoop Singh, Ashok Lahiri and Ramesh Chand for the report’s submission to the President. The report will soon be presented to Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
“The Commission was asked to give its recommendations on many unique and wide-ranging issues in its terms of reference. Apart from the vertical and horizontal tax devolution, local government grants, disaster management grant, the Commission was also asked to examine whether a separate mechanism for funding of defence and internal security ought to be set up and if so how such a mechanism could be operationalised,” said the statement.
