AGARTALA, Jan 2 - A 14-member team of the 15th Finance Commission (FC) headed by its chairman, NK Singh, will arrive here on January 16.
During their four-day visit, the FC team will hold meetings with Chief Minister Biplab Kumar Deb, his Cabinet colleagues, departmental heads, representatives of political parties, autonomous district council authorities and elected local bodies including the Agartala Municipal Corporation.
The objective of the visit is to know the State�s non-plan expenditure � fiscal position, debt burden, scope of own resource mobilisation and committed expenditure for the next five years commencing April 2020.
In the meeting with the top bureaucracy, the FC is expected to check if the State followed the guidelines for fiscal disciple during the period of the 14th FC. After hearing the State Government�s non-plan requirements, the FC will recommend a non-plan outlay for the next five years, from 2020-21 to 2024-25.
It is known that the State has failed to mobilise its own resources during the past five years. The State with a population of 27 lakh still heavily depends on Central assistance � around 85 per cent out of the State�s total fiscal requirement.
Dr Anup Singh, Dr Ashok Laheri, Dr Ramesh Chand will also be part of the FC team. Secretary of 15th FC Arvind Mahato and two Joint Secretaries � Mukhmeet S Bhatia and Ravi Kotha � will accompany the team.
Talking to reporters, State Education Minister Ratan Lal Nath today said the State Government may consider making a presentation covering 16 issues and these include financial condition, debt sustainability, off-budget expenditure, fiscal reforms programme and taxation efficiency during the deliberation with the 15th FC Chairman.
The State Government has already placed a wish-list of Rs 1,07,714.83 crore before the FC to incur non-plan expenditure for the next five years. Apart from this, the State has demanded increasing the Central share from 42 per cent to 50 per cent, Rs 4,987 crore for disaster management and Rs 17,783.61 crore for implementing various development programmes.
