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CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION Under the Indian Federal System, the Constitution Assigns Important Functions and Responsibilities In

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CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION Under the Indian Federal System, the Constitution Assigns Important Functions and Responsibilities In CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION Under the Indian federal system, the Constitution assigns important functions and responsibilities in various economic and social sectors to the States. This is in addition to the normal governance role to be performed by the States. At the same time, more elastic and broad based taxes have been assigned to the Centre leaving insufficient and inelastic revenue resources under the control of States. This has created a gap between the needs and availability of resources for the States. Keeping this in view, the Constitution provides for the setting up of a Finance Commission, once in five years, to enable the States to raise sufficient revenue to bring about rapid economic growth in the State. The Commission provides the States a mandated forum for ventilation of views of State Governments on Centre-State financial relations. Constitution and Terms of Reference of the Thirteenth Finance Commission In this context, the State of Sikkim welcomes the appointment of the Thirteenth Finance Commission and eagerly looks forward to its deliberations with the hope that the Commission would be able to design a more rational revenue transfer system and bring about a national consensus for a fair and balanced fiscal federalism in our country. The Thirteenth Finance Commission (TFC) has been constituted by the President of India vide order of the 13th November, 2007. The TFC consists of: 1. The Chairman, Dr. Vijay L. Kelkar, Former Union Finance Secretary and Adviser to the then Finance Minister, and four other members, viz. (i) Shri B.K. Chaturvedi, Member Planning Commission (Part-time), (ii) Dr. Indira Rajaraman, Professor Emeritus, National Institute of Public Finance & Policy, New Delhi, (iii) Dr. Sanjiv Misra, Former Secretary (Expenditure), Government of India, and (iv) Prof. Atul Sarma, Former Vice-Chancellor, Rajiv Gandhi University. 2. Shri Sumit Bose, the Secretary to the Commission 3. The Commission shall make recommendations as to the following matters, namely :- a. the distribution of the net proceeds of the taxes between the Union and the States which are to be, or may be, divided between them under Chapter I Part XII of the Constitution and the allocation of the respective shares of such proceeds amongst the States ; b. the principles which will govern the grant-in-aid from the revenues of the States out of the Consolidated Fund of India and the sums to be paid to the States which are in need of assistance for grants-in-aid from their revenues under article 275 of the Constitution for purposes other than those specified in the provisos to clause (1) of that article; and c. the measures needed to augment the Consolidated Fund of a State to supplement the resources of the Panchayats and Municipalities in the State on the basis of the recommendations made by the Finance Commission of the State. 4. The Commission shall review the state of the finances of the Union and the States, particularly keeping in view the operation of the States’ Debt Consolidation and Relief Facility 2005-2010 introduced by the Central Government on the basis of the recommendations of the Twelfth Finance Commission, and suggest measures for maintaining a stable and sustainable fiscal environment consistent with equitable growth. 5. In making its recommendations, the Commission shall pay regard, among other considerations, to – a. the resources of the Central Government, for five years commencing on 1st April 2010, on the basis of levels of taxation and non-tax revenues likely to be reached at the end of 2008-09; b. the demands on the resources of the Central Government on account of the projected Gross Budgetary Support to the Central and State Plan, expenditure on civil administration, defense, internal and border security, debt-servicing and other committed expenditure and liabilities; c. The resources of the State Governments, for the five years commencing on 1st April 2010, on the basis of levels of taxation and non-tax revenues likely to be reached at the end of 2008-09; d. The objective of not only balancing the receipts and expenditure on revenue account of all the States and the Union, but also generating surpluses for capital investment; e. The taxation efforts of the Central Government and each State Government and the potential for additional resource mobilization to improve the tax-Gross Domestic Product ratio in the case of the Union and tax-Gross State Domestic Product ratio in the case of the States; f. The impact of the proposed implementation of Goods and Services Tax with effect from 1st April, 2010, including its impact on the country’s foreign trade; g. The need to improve the quality of public expenditure to obtain better outputs and outcomes; h. the need to manage ecological, environmental and climatic changes consistent with sustainable development; i. the expenditure on the non-salary component of maintenance and upkeep of capital assets and the non-wage related maintenance expenditure on plan schemes to be completed by 31st March, 2010, and the norms on the basis of which specific amounts are recommended for the maintenance of the capital assets and the manner of monitoring such expenditure; j. the need for ensuring the commercial viability of irrigation projects, power projects, departmental undertakings and public sector enterprises through various means, including levy of user charges and adoption of measures to promote efficiency. 6. In making its recommendations on various matters, the Commission shall take the year 1971 as the base for population figures in all cases where population is the factor for determination of devolution of taxes and duties and grants-in-aid. 7. The Commission may review the present arrangements as regards financing of Disaster Management with reference to the National Calamity Contingency Fund and the Calamity Relief Fund and the funds envisaged in the Disaster Management Act, 2005 (53 of 2005), and make appropriate recommendations thereon. 8. The Commission shall indicate the basis on which it has arrived at its findings and make available the estimates of receipts and expenditure of the Union and each of the States. 9. The Commission shall make its report available by the 31st day of October, 2009, covering the period of five years commencing on the 1st day of April, 2010. The setting up of the Thirteenth Finance Commission, with the above mentioned terms of reference, indicates that in the Indian federation there exists a well-defined framework of financial devolution from the Union to the States, which has evolved over fifty years through the working of the various Finance Commissions. Special Emphasis Needed on Basic Fabric of Federal Structure Article 280 of the Constitution, under which a Finance Commission is constituted, is basic to the fabric of Centre–State financial relations. Recognizing the need for transfer of resources from the Union to the States, a number of provisions are made in the Constitution in a logical order. The Centre-State financial flows are along the following five routes. i. Tax devolution and gap filling grants (under Article 275 of the Constitution) given as per the Finance Commission’s award. ii. Non-plan grants for calamity relief, up-gradation etc. as mandated by the Finance Commission. iii. Non-plan loans comprising mainly plough back of the net small saving collections mobilized by the States. iv. Normal Plan assistance under the Gadgil formula and additional Central assistance for externally aided projects. v. Assistance for Centrally Sponsored Schemes. The State of Sikkim feels that in addition to making recommendations on the aspects assigned to the TFC, vide the above notification, the time is now ripe to pay special attention to the overall existing system of Centre–State financial flows. First, the share of the States in Central revenues is restricted to just 30.5 percent. After the acceptance of the Tenth Finance Commission’s recommendation of 29 per cent share in the overall divisible pool of taxes, the Eleventh Finance Commission and the Twelfth Finance Commission have not brought any substantial improvement in the Tenth Finance Commission’s scheme. The share was only marginally increased. Given the various functions of the States, the States’ share in the divisible pool of taxes must be increased considerably. Second, the gap filling approach through grants under Article 275(1) is confronted with the in-built flaw of not distinguishing between the fiscally imprudent and the fiscally disadvantaged States. This approach has a built-in incentive for the backward States to continue lagging behind the other better off States as they are cross subsidized by the latter. Third, based on the elaborate procedures laid down by the Planning Commission, the overly centralized planning process for a State is too rigid, unnecessary and counterproductive. The States are unable to reflect their regional priorities in the plan. Also, it puts a premium on fresh capital formation and leads to the corresponding neglect of maintenance of existing assets even though the latter yield much greater returns for every rupee invested. Finally, the arena of Centrally Sponsored Schemes (CSS) in the planning process is too rigid in design and does not reflect grass root priorities and constraints. The release and monitoring procedure set up by the Union Ministries is tedious and often results in delays. There is no provision of release of advance funds in most ongoing schemes. The State of Sikkim strongly urges the TFC to give due consideration to the above aspects as these are crucially relevant for the Indian fiscal federal fabric. State’s Views on 1971 Population as a Factor for Devolution of Resources In this context, the State of Sikkim will like to point out that the Commission is required, under para 7 of the terms of reference, to adopt the population figures of 1971 in all cases where population is regarded as a factor for determination of devolution of taxes and duties, and grants-in-aid.
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