Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said on Wednesday that the Andhra Pradesh government’s demand for revenue deficit grant was to be discussed as it was a matter in the purview of the 14th Finance Commission whose term had expired.
“The Ministry of Finance has to work on it, considering the fact that the amount being claimed by the State is based on the recommendation of the 14th Finance Commission. The 15th Finance Commission has already submitted its first year’s report and it is under implementation,” Ms. Sitharaman observed while addressing the media here.
Ms. Sitharaman said she was not sure about the revenue deficit amount due to the State, which had every right to question why the matter had not been sorted out yet.
‘Economy on recovery path’
She, however, avoided a proper reply to a question on the demand for Special Category Status (SCS) by saying that she would answer if she had one.
On the GST, Ms. Sitharaman said that the GST Council had decided that the compensation cess collection could go beyond five years, whereas it was originally supposed to be for the five-year transition period.
Ms. Sitharaman said the economy was on the path to recovery going by the feedback she received from the States about the positivity in some high-frequency indicators and from industrialists, who told her they had almost reached the pre-COVID capacity utilisation levels.
‘Farmers happy with Acts’
Speaking on the Farmers’ Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation), Farmers’ (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement of Price Assurance and Farm Services and Essential Commodities (Amendment) Acts, 2020, Ms. Sitharaman said that farmers were happy that certain taxes that cut into their meagre returns were eliminated and inter-State trade was made hassle-free.
The Centre did not meddle with the Agricultural Produce Market Committees, which were the domain of the States, and it was not going about contact farming in a roughshod manner lest the relevant laws should become counterproductive, she said, adding that the opposition parties were doing politics as usual after wasting an opportunity to engage with the government in a meaningful debate in Parliament.
Earlier, Ms. Sitharaman had an interaction with the farmers at Jakkula Nekkalam village near Gannavaram on the three new laws and received a representation from the Amaravati Parirakshana Samithi on the capital issue.