Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal today urged the Thirteenth Finance Commission to grant a “special agriculture and industry package” in view of the state’s contribution to the national food kitty as well as the constraints suffered by it due to industrial concessions given to the neighbouring states.
The chief minister also called for “economic federalism” to help the state accelerate development initiatives in line with national objectives. He demanded that the states should get at least 50 per cent of the gross central receipts from taxes and other resources.
Badal also requested the commission, headed by its Chairman Vijay Kelkar, that the belt (in Punjab) sharing the international border with Pakistan be treated as “a special national zone” where people must be compensated on the development front for the sacrifices they have been making “in the overall national interest”.
He also called for recasting the formula for devolution of central funds to the states to make it commensurate with the contribution of each state to the central taxes rather than making it dependent on the size of the population or geography.
He stated that the percentage of Scheduled Caste population in the state should be given at least 15 per cent weight while 10 per cent weigh should be accorded to those living near the international border, while devising an objective for devolving funds to the states.
This apart, the chief minister sought additional funds for distributing free power to the farm sector for which the state government was providing more than Rs 2,000 crore per year to the Punjab State Electricity Board as power subsidy.
He added that the state’s share in tax devolution had constantly gone down with successive Finance Commissions and this decline has been the main cause of the state’s fiscal woes.
Further, Badal demanded that the percentage share of states in the net proceeds of Central taxes should be fixed at 45 per cent for the period 2010-15 from the existing 30.5 per cent. The total transfer to the states should be at least 50 per cent against 38 per cent of the Central gross revenue receipts under the Twelfth Finance Commission. To enhance tax devolution to the states, all surcharges, which were levied by the central government, should be made a part of divisible pool, he sought.
Further, Badal urged the Commission to provide Rs 5,000 crore during the five-year period (2010-15) in order to ensure better civic infrastructure in rural areas of the state. This apart, he sought Rs 4,600 crore for the same period to meet 75 per cent of the cost of development works in urban areas.
The chief minister also proposed to decentralise the planning process and stated that a pan-Indian criteria for centrally-sponsored scheme needed to be reviewed.
