Narayanasamy slams finance panel terms for funds devolution

Chief Minister V. Narayanasamy on Tuesday called for a revolt against the Union government to preserve the principles of federalism enshrined in the Constitution and to reassert the rights of States.

Participating in a conclave in Thiruvananthapuram, where Finance Ministers of southern States demanded the re-framing of the Terms of Reference (ToR) of the 15th Finance Commission for devolution of funds, Mr. Narayanasamy stated that the ToR was in contradiction with the principles of federalism enshrined in the Constitution and would result in revenue loss for performing States.

Hoping that the the conference, which brought together non-BJP ruled southern States, would be an ‘eye-opener’ for the Union government, Mr. Narayanasamy slammed the recommendation to do away with Central funds for ‘populous schemes’ of States. He sought to know if best performing States were punished and worst performing ones rewarded, how would developed States carry out works when they were denied a fair share of funds.

Takes a dig at Centre

Taking a dig at Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Mr. Narayanasamy said that while “he talks about cooperative federalism at all meetings, what was actually happening is dictatorship”.

“They want to impose (various things) on States in the name of the Constitution, but actually infringe on the powers of the States,” he added. According to the Chief Minister, post-GST there was a 30% decline in revenue of the Union Territory after the implementation of new tax regime, though it had been repeatedly asserted that GST would be very beneficial to consumer States such as Kerala and Puducherry.

“We have to revolt against the Union government for our rights. It is high time the Government of India changes the ToR and includes Puducherry also in the ToR,” Mr. Narayanasamy said.