The current Jharkhand government is soon going to present its 5th and final budget of its current term. Apart from the political turmoil that the state faces, there also seems to be a huge governance gap which gets swept under the cacophony of political machinations. Policy and governance matters rarely grab eyeballs and Jharkhand is no exception. While the allocation of funds to various departments is one of the goals of the budget, its efficient utilization is often overlooked. Several bodies such as boards and commissions which are a part of the democratic machinery to help implement the government policies on the ground have been left dysfunctional in Jharkhand.

This is evident through the vacant leadership of several commissions in the state such as JSMDC (Jharkhand State Mineral Development Corporation), TVNL (Tenughat Vidyut Nigam Limited), JREDA (Jharkhand Renewable Energy Development Agency), State Information Commission, State Women Commission and Jharkhand khadi and village industries board.

One such commission which has been made redundant during the entire tenure of this government is the State Finance Commission. The state finance commission was introduced under the framework of decentralization under the 73rd and 74th amendments relating to Panchayati Raj institutions. In response to the Constitutional requirement, under Article-243 (I) and 243 (Y), Jharkhand constituted the

First, State Finance Commission in 2004. The last chairman of the commission, NK Mishra retired in 2018. The position has been vacant since. The state finance commission is mandated with several important tasks including reviewing the state's financial situation and its panchayati raj institutions including the urban local bodies. It advises on the principles that should govern the division of tax revenues between the state and its panchayati raj institutions. It thus becomes an important body to devolve funds, facilitate decentralization and empower the functioning of local bodies. The role of SFC becomes even more important in states which are lagging in development as well as scheduled areas such as Jharkhand. While Schedule 5 of our constitution talks about the right of local bodies to administer several areas in the list of devolvement of powers, the same cannot be possible without a proper financial mechanism of financial devolvement and enabling these bodies to raise resources at the local level.

While the incumbent JMM-Congress government often talks of decentralization and keeps urging the Centre to follow fiscal federalism, it doesn't apply the same principle to itself in matters of devolution of funds. A recent newspaper report highlighted how the state finance commission's office is dilapidated, infested with birds and remains closed, awaiting its new incumbent.

In light of the recommendation of the 15th Finance Commission, the Panchayati Raj institutions of the state are to get Rs 2,736 crore as grants during 2024-26. However, the Center has taken a strong stance and made it subject to the fulfillment of certain conditions by March 2024, such as the provisional account and audited account of Rural Local Bodies for the previous years as well as the Action taken report on the recommendations of the finance commission. In the absence of a state finance commission, Jharkhand is racing against time to become eligible for these grants.

The author is Election Management Chief for BJP Jharkhand and runs a start-up, Biofie.com. He holds an Engineering Degree from BIT Mesra and an MBA from XLRI, Jamshedpur. Views expressed in the article are personal