At NITI Aayog meet, CMs say centrally sponsored schemes bleeding states dry

At the NITI Aayog meet, several CMs said the centrally sponsored schemes were bleeding the states dry

At the fifth meeting of NITI Aayog’s Governing Council on Saturday, Karnataka Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy demanded the Centre extend GST compensation period beyond five years as he feared his state will face “severe financial crunch” when the recompense period ends in 2022. The demand comes ahead of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) Council meeting on Friday.

Several chief ministers (CMs), of not only Opposition parties but also allies like Bihar’s Nitish Kumar, went beyond the suggested five-point agenda of the meeting to stress that centrally sponsored schemes (CSS) were bleeding states dry, and asked the Centre to