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16th Finance Commission will submit report to Centre by Oct 31: Chairman
Chairman of the Sixteenth Finance Commission Dr. Arvind Panagariya on Monday said the commission will submit its report to the central government by October 31.
Panagariya said this in a meeting of the commission held here with Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami.
The chairman praised Uttarakhand for moving ahead rapidly on the development front and said that in view of the difficult geographical conditions, extensive discussions will be held to find solutions to the challenges being faced by other hill states, including Uttarakhand.
Earlier in the meeting, CM Dhami presented his views on the financial situation, challenges and development needs of the state.
He requested the Finance Commission to provide suitable compensation in keeping with the spirit of 'environmental federalism' in view of Uttarakhand's 'eco service cost', increase the weightage of forest cover in 'tax-devolution' to 20 per cent and consider special grants for proper management and conservation of forests in the state.
The Chief Minister said that in the last 25 years, Uttarakhand has made remarkable progress in the field of financial management like other areas.
The size of the state budget has crossed Rs 1 lakh crore, while in the SDG Index Report of the year 2023-24 released by NITI Aayog, Uttarakhand has emerged as the leading state in the country among the states achieving the goals of sustainable development, he said.
Referring to the two main challenges being faced by the state due to more than 70 per cent of the total geographical area of Uttarakhand being covered by forests, Dhami said that on one hand this leads to more expenditure for the conservation of forests, while on the other hand, due to the prohibition of any other development activity in the forest area, 'eco service cost' also has to be borne.
In this regard, he requested for appropriate compensation to the State in accordance with the spirit of 'Environmental Federalism', increasing the weight prescribed for forest cover in 'Tax-Transfer' by 20 percent and special grant for proper management and conservation of forests in the State.
He said that since the state's industrial package ended in 2010, the locational disadvantage is not being met, while special budget provisions have to be made in the hilly regions of the state due to difficult geographical conditions and other practical difficulties as the private sector participation in important sectors like education and health is very limited.
Describing Uttarakhand as very sensitive to natural disasters, the CM said that the state needs continuous financial support to effectively deal with disasters and for relief and rehabilitation work.
Dhami, referring to the limited possibilities of hydropower generation in Uttarakhand due to the rules implemented after the Ganges was declared a national river, said that due to this the hydropower sector is not able to make the expected contribution and there is a huge loss in the field of employment along with revenue.
He also requested the Finance Commission to provide special assistance in view of the higher cost involved in developing additional infrastructure for transport, drinking water, health, waste management and other services in view of the 'floating population' visiting pilgrimage sites.
A delegation of the party led by State Congress Vice-President Suryakant Dhasmana also met Dr. Panagariya and requested for a green bonus for the state and economic package to stop migration and consider the special geographical conditions of the state.
Dhasmana demanded that the state should be given a green bonus as compensation for its environmental services, protection of water, forest and biodiversity for the country.
He said that there should also be a provision of a special package for the state for long-term disaster management preparedness.
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