The Fifteenth Finance Commission has promised to look into the geographical status, problems and issues of Bihar and consider them sympathetically in its recommendations. “There is no question of being unsympathetic to Bihar. Its geography cannot be changed but the problems the State face can be considered for redressal,” said Commission chairman N K Singh here on Monday.
Addressing a one day national seminar “Addressing the problems of Inter-State and Inter-District Disparity of India” organised by the Asian Development Research Institute (ADRI), Singh, who belongs to Bihar and served as bureaucrat, said, “We will keep in mind Bihar’s problems and demands.”
Bihar Assembly Speaker Vijay Kumar Chaudhary highlighted the problems of the State and said recurring flood was a major factor for its backwardness and Bihar has nothing to do with this problem. He said the basic duty of the panel was to help the economically backward regions. “We are geographically unfortunate. But this situation also makes our State first claimant for special category status,” he said while raking up the demand for special status to Bihar.
Chaudhary emphasized the need to monitor the implementation of the 15th FC recommendations and said this will be necessary for realising the goals set forth by the panel. The Speaker also put a question mark on the utility of the Niti Ayog.
Jharkhand’s Parliamentary Affairs, Food and Supply Minister Saryu Rai said, “While the northeast always had a council working towards bringing development to the seven sisters, the eastern Indian States remain bereft of any such focus. Despite having abundant natural resources, many States in eastern India severely lack the infrastructural facilities. The 15th FC would be of great help to these States if it recommended favourably for them.”
The FC chairman Singh said the issues that the 15th FC has been finding to be ‘very complex’ have actually been found exactly so by all the Finance Commissions so far. He also highlighted that the historical experiences of countries like Italy are very helpful in understanding issues facing Bihar and such other States. Singh stressed on the urgent need for evaluating centrally sponsored schemes in the country, which he said were numerous, with an aim to bring efficiency and streamline their finance.
Stating that the ‘Terms of Reference of the 15th FC has followed the provisions contained in Article 280 of the Indian Constitution, he said the FC decision on divisible pool of resources will try to strike a balance between the provisions and the demands arising countrywide. Singh expressed concern at the expanding Concurrent List and talked about the need to revisit the provisions of the 7th Schedule.
ADRI’s member-secretary Shaibal Gupta said, “The problem of inter-state and inter-district development disparity is not academic alone. It is a serious development challenge and reduction of this disparity demands responses from various sources such as Central and State Governments, national and international development agencies, academicians, professionals, civil society organisations, media and others.”