AGARTALA, March 28 � Tripura Chief Minister Manik Sarkar has demanded special grant for the State to reduce the State�s financial burden following the recommendations of the 14th Finance Commission.
In a letter addressed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the Chief Minister acknowledged the State would be benefited after increase in the share of Central tax from 32 to 42 per cent.
The abolition of Planning Commission would cost dearly for a State like Tripura, he contended while citing that the State would face a deficit of Rs 17,700 crore for the next five years after the abolition of the Planning Commission. It meant the State would not receive Rs 3,556 crore annually during the plan period.
Besides, the State had expected an arrear of Rs 2,200 crore from the 14th Finance Commission but it had not happened. The State had demanded Rs 2,900 crore under State specific projects before the 14th Finance Commission. The FC did not pay any heed to the State�s demand leading to a heavy deficit in meeting non-plan expenditure for the next five years, the letter despatched on March 21 said.
In the letter, the Chief Minister also mentioned that of the total 66 Central Government projects, pattern of share has been changed in 13 schemes. Citing an example, he said the share pattern of RKVY has been changed from 90:10 to 50: 50 which would appear as a major burden for the State, Sarkar pointed out.
Sarkar further said the 14th FC has declared only 11 States as special category States while Tripura and Assam have been excluded from the special category tag. It means that Tripura would not get grant as special category State in the next five years.
According to the Chief Minister, the 14th FC�s award would meet only 50 per cent non-plan expenditure of the State even after raising the cap of share of Central tax.
