Chairman of the 14th Finance Commission VY Reddy on Thursday heaped praise on Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Raman Singh while terming him ‘one of the most successful Chief Ministers of the country.’
‘Under his (Raman Singh’s) leadership, Chhattisgarh has performed impressively well in the finance sector, Reddy said while addressing a meeting with Chief Minister Raman Singh and senior Government officials at the Mantralaya here.
He further remarked : ‘Despite various difficulties and limited resources, Chhattisgarh has done commendably well in the fields of social development and financial management.’
Reddy praised the State Government’s presentation made in the meeting.
Earlier, Chief Minister Raman Singh welcomed the Chairman and other members of Finance Commission on the occasion, and threw light upon State Government’s achievements in various sectors under various schemes and also made the Commission aware of Government’s future action-plans and requirements.
Singh, on behalf of State Government, presented special grant proposals to the tune of nearly Rs34,000 crore before Finance Commission.
He said that the share of States in Central tax revenue should be increased from 32 per cent to 50 per cent, so as to remove the imbalance between the Centre and States.
Singh also demanded from the Finance Commission to divide Central tax revenue between Centre and states on the basis of census 2011, instead of census 1971 which is presently the basis of division.
The Chief Minister also insisted that the devolution formula for Central tax revenue should be per capita expenditure instead of per capita income, because major part of the income earned in State is spent outside the State.
Singh also said that because of forest areas and problem of insurgency, the input cost of development works increases. Hence, area of forest land and problem of Naxal violence, both should be considered as the basis for division
of revenue.
About other terms of reference, the Chief Minister said that considering the less debt burden and the financial requirements, State should be given the liberty of taking more loans. Singh insisted that one per cent revenue should be secured for the Gram Panchayats concerned, in view of the backwardness of the scheduled areas of State.
The Chief Minister said that Naxal problem is itself a calamity. Hence, Centre should provide assistance from national and state calamity funds to redress the problem of Naxal violence in the State.
Moreover, the Finance Commission was also suggested to increase the share of Panchayats and Urban Bodies in Central tax revenue from 2.5 per cent to 5 per cent in view of the responsibilities entrusted to Panchayats and Urban Development Bodies by
State Government.
Singh thanked the Chairman and members of the Commission for the extremely positive discussion during the meeting.
The Chief Minister said that Chhattisgarh secures major part of its budget for social sector.
He further said that at the time of the State’s formation, the total budget of Chhattisgarh was nearly Rs8500 crores, which has increased to more than Rs54,000 crore in financial year 2014-15.
Chhattisgarh is the first state of the country to procure paddy from farmers on its own, as per the support price policy of Centre. In year 2012, the State government provided bonus to the farmers of State on paddy procurement at the rate of Rs270 per quintal, Singh said.
This year, the farmers will be provided bonus at the rate of Rs300 per quintal. The State government is providing free electricity supply of 7500 unit to the farmers every year for irrigation purpose, he said.
Chhattisgarh is the first state of the country to empower youth of the State with legal right to skill development. In order to provide employment-oriented training to the youngsters of state, livelihood colleges have been opened in all the 27 districts of the State, the Chief Minister stated.
Naya Raipur city is being developed across the area of 8000 hectares, as an extension of capital city Raipur, where Mantralaya and other head offices of various departments have been established, he said.
The members of the Commission appreciated the State’s memorandum and the quality of its presentation, and stated that the State has raised a number of important issues of relevance to the Commission’s work.
In the meeting, Home Minister Ramsevak Paikra, Health and Commercial Tax Minister Amar Agrawal, Revenue, Higher Education and Technical Education Minister Premprakash Pandey, Agriculture and Water Resource Minister Brijmohan Agrawal, Chief Secretary of Chhattisgarh Government Vivek Dhand and senior officials of various departments were also present.
Other members of the Commission also expressed similar views in the meeting.
Reddy and other members of the Commission including Prof Abhijeet Sen, Sushma Nath, Dr M Govind Rao and Dr Sudipto Mundale and Secretary AN Jha, along with Chief Minister Raman Singh deliberated upon the financial requirements and proposals of various sectors for development of Chhattisgarh.