Agartala 30 Jan, 2025: Economic management in Tripura is quite well. It is definitely a good sign for Tripura, the Chairman of the 16th Finance Commission Dr. Arvind Panagariya stated at a press meet at the State Guest House today. At the press meet he informed that in the morning during a meeting a memorandum containing various suggestions and demands of the state, was handed over on behalf of the state government. That meeting was attended by the Chief Minister Prof. (Dr.) Manik Saha, state finance minister Pranajit Saha and other ministers and officials of the state administration.
Briefing the media Dr. Panagariya further said, the Finance Commission, before preparing its final report would be consulting different stakeholders including state governments, PRIs and ULBs. That is why the Commission has started visiting different states. After Tripura, it will be visiting eleven more states. He said, additionally any individual could submit their suggestions by visiting the portal of the Commission. As per norms, the Union Finance Minister would submit the memorandum of the central government to the Commission and the Commission would submit the final report to the President by October 31, 2025. He said, as per recommendation of the 15th Finance Commission, the state share from central taxes is at present 41 per cent and the central government is taking 59 per cent. Many states have demanded a hike in the state share. Today Tripura also demanded for an increase, from 41 per cent to 50 per cent.
At the press meet when asked whether the Northeast region would get an advantage over others due to its geographical location, the Chairman Dr. Panagariya said, the Commission is already aware of it.
Not only the Northeast, states like Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand are also on the same footing. The Commission is working keeping all this in view. He said, Tripura has shown visible progress despite having per capita income below the national average. The Commission also takes that into account. In today’s meeting last year’s devastating flood in Tripura was also discussed. Dr. Panagariya said, Tripura had managed the challenge with necessary acumen. He also said, in devolution of fund, some state specific and some sector specific aspects are also considered.
The Chairman of the 16th Finance Commission Dr. Panagariya said, the recommendations of the previous Finance Commissions are also considered as a base. Drawing reference from the 15th Finance Commission he said, it recommended 15 per cent weightage on the basis of population. This time on behalf of the Government of Tripura, the weightage on forest criteria was demanded for an increase from 10 per cent to 20 percent. And Tripura has a good amount of forest cover. He said, generally Finance Commissions try to support the states in a way to ensure equal socio-economic progress. That is why certain additional support is provided to the poorer states. This time two new demands came up from Tripura; one being giving 5 per cent weightage to infrastructural aspect and 5 per cent weightage to the states having international borders. These two issues were never before considered as criteria. Apart from the Chairman, some other members of the 16th Finance Commission present in the press meet were Soumyakanti Ghosh, Annie George Mathew, Manoj Panda and Ajay Narayan Jha.
