40 AIADMK MPs, led by deputy chief minister O. Panneerselvam knocked at the doors of N.K. Singh, chairman of the 15th Finance Commission, in the national capital on Thursday and submitted a memorandum of their concerns on the Terms of Reference of the Commission.
Stressing the efforts made and resources mobilised by them to improve the lot of the people in Tamil Nadu, the AIADMK delegation that included M. Thambidurai, deputy speaker of the Lok Sabha, urged the Commission to meet the growing aspirations and expectations of the better performing states, even as it balances the need for fiscal transfers to less.
The AIADMK MPs had wholeheartedly supported the Telugu Desam Party MPs who demanded special category that equals much more allocation of funds. The two parties, along with the Congress had obstructed the entire second half of the budget session earlier this month, to press for more allocation of funds.
Singh assured the visiting delegation that the fiscal needs of each state will be assessed individually, and their special characteristics would be kept in view.
“A progressive state like Tamil Nadu which has contributed greatly to India's prosperity would certainly receive the Commission's careful consideration,” Singh told them.
The Commission is slated to visit Tamil Nadu by end-September. Constituted in November, 2017, the Commission is mandated to make recommendations on the transfer of resources from the Centre to the States for the period 2020-2025. The process is about sharing central taxes with the states, distribution of central grants to them, take measures to improve the finances of the states to supplement the resources of panchayats and municipalities and address other specific matters referred to it.
Tamilnadu is not alone in feeling that the developed states chip in more but get less. Andhra Pradesh chief minister Chandrababu Naidu was recently in the capital to share his agony of being denied funds, even though the state has the highest growth rate but remains poorer than the neighbours in the peninsula.