Bhubaneswar: Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik Wednesday met the Chairman of the 15th Finance Commission NK Singh and other members of the quasi judicial body and submitted a set of demands including a special package to mitigate disaster management in the state.
Addressing the Finance Commission here, Patnaik mooted a Rs 1500-crore special package to build additional cyclone shelters and improve calamity warning systems.
Patnaik also reiterated the demand for special category status to Odisha citing frequent natural calamities hitting the state. “It is in this premise of historic central neglect and frequent natural calamities that my government has been demanding ‘Special Category Status’ for Odisha which will supplement our efforts to transform the state, he said.
The CM also attacked the Union government for its alleged apathy towards the state. The CM told the panel that “successive governments at the Centre had ensured that Odisha remains at the bottom of railway network, banking, highways compounded by neglect in industrial corridor, coal royalty, drinking water, irrigation and funds for Scheduled areas and KBK. Odisha also faces natural calamities every alternate year.”
In some of the other special revenue related demands the CM asked the Finance Commission to consider the issues affecting the state and suggested some needed reforms. In their suggestions to the panel the state put forth their demands like-increasing tax devolution from 42% to 50%, making cess and surcharges as part of divisible pool, use of 1971 population as devolution criteria, extension of GST compensation for another 10 years, clean Energy Cess to be spent in coal mining areas.
Finance Commission chairman NK Singh later told reporters the the panel would examine the demands and submit its report to the centre by the end of 2019.
Singh also appreciated the state government’s Kalia scheme for farmers launched recently.
With regard to the special category status, he said it was not under the panel’s purview but added that the earlier 14th Finance Commission was against the categorisation of the states. The panel acts as an advisory body to the government where they after their scrutiny of demands and examinations of the flow and distribution of revenue recommend their views to the President of India.