Tamil Nadu Deputy Chief Minister and Finance Minister O. Panneerselvam on Tuesday termed the final report of the 15th Finance Commission placed before Parliament, “disappointing.”
In his interim budget speech in the Tamil Nadu Assembly, Mr. Paneerselvam said the final report of the 15th Finance Commission belied the hopes held out by the interim report for 2020-21 of a fairer treatment for a well-performing State such as Tamil Nadu. “The recommendations of the 15th Finance Commission are disappointing, and the injustice done to Tamil Nadu by the earlier Commissions, and in particular by the 14th Finance Commission, has not been redressed,” he said.
The Deputy CM, who also holds the Finance portfolio, said the final report has recommended a reduced revenue deficit grant of ₹2,204 crore, that too only for the first year -- 2021-22.
He further said the amount of local body grants too has come down to ₹3,979 crore from ₹5,344 crore in 2020-21. “The total amount of grants to Urban Local Bodies in Tamil Nadu has declined significantly from the amounts recommended by the 14th Finance Commission, from ₹8,232. 31 crore for the period 2016-20 against ₹7,187 crore in 2021-26,” he said.
This was, he said, because the 15th Finance Commission has adopted an incorrect base of the proportion of the overall population and area of each State to national population and area, and not the proportion of a State’s urban population to the national urban population. Due to this, urbanised States like Tamil Nadu have suffered, he said.
