Hyderabad: The stage is all set for a conclave of finance ministers from Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, Delhi and West Bengal on Monday to discuss the terms of reference (ToR) of the 15th Finance Commission in Amaravati.
The ministers and other officials from the four states will attend the meeting and are expected to adopt a resolution at the end of the conclave after coming to a consensus. They will also discuss recommendations of the commission.
Puducherry chief minister V. Narayana Swamy landed in the capital on Sunday evening to participate in the conclave, and was received by AP finance minister Yanamala Ramakrishnudu.
The three southern states—Kerala, Karnataka and AP—were the first to express opposition to the ToR issued for the 15th Finance Commission, which they said left them worse off. The states held a meeting and hit out against the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led central government.
The three states, which initiated the conclave, were worried that the Finance Commission’s proposal to use the 2011 census, instead of the current 1971 census, as the criteria for revenue devolution will disadvantage them as they have implemented population control programmes better than states in the North. States with larger populations get more of the central funds. While the Puducherry chief minister had attended the first meeting, Telangana and Tamil Nadu had stayed away.
It may also be recalled that AP has been protesting against the centre ever since the Union Budget 2018 was released, arguing that it has not got its due. It has also been demanding that the centre implement all the bifurcation promises made to the state post its split from Telangana in 2014. The fallout of the demand was that the ruling Telugu Desam party parted ways from the BJP.
Telugu Desam Party leaders, who did not want to be quoted, maintained that the meeting in Amaravati is a non-political and only a form to discuss the issues with regard to the 15th Finance Commission.