Guwahati, Nov 28 (IANS): Assam Thursday sought Rs.307,430.13 crore from the 14th Finance Commission to meet its non-Plan expenditure and give a thrust to infrastructure development projects.
Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi met Commission chairman Y.V. Reddy at the Assam Administrative Staff College here Thursday and submitted a memorandum seeking Rs.307,430.13 crore to meet the state's committed expenditure and carry forward infrastructure development activities.
The amount covers the state's specific needs, including upgradation of infrastructure, pre-devolution revenue deficit, additional financial liability for the new pay commission, rehabilitation of erosion-affected families, financial assistance to local bodies, Sixth Schedule areas, other autonomous councils, reform and restructuring of state PSUs and covering non-Plan expenses.
Other expenses include those committed by the government such as the implementation of the National Food Security Scheme, establishment of judicial and fast-track courts, modernisation of the police force and upgradation of health and education infrastructure.
The chief minister also requested the commission to increase the size of the divisible pool of central taxes from 32 to 50 percent.
"The commission should take an effective step to rectify the vertical imbalances between the centre and the states by way of bringing cess and surcharges to the shareable pool of resources," Gogoi said.
The chief minister also made a plea that reduction of royalty on crude oil at discounted price has hit the state's economy hard, and urged the commission for its intervention in amending the existing methodology for calculation of rate of royalty on crude oil from the existing 20 to at least 30 percent.
Gogoi also requested the commission to consider the issue of CST compensation in financial devolution to the states in terms of the recommendations of the Empowered Committee on CST compensation for losses incurred in the past years till GST is introduced.
The chief minister made a strong case for inclusion of erosion as a natural calamity under the Calamity Relief Fund and provide Rs.1,000 crore for rehabilitation of river erosion affected families.
"Erosion is a much graver problem than floods here. So far 4.27 lakh hectare of land has been eroded since 1950.
"Every year, the state accounts for average loss of 8,000 hectare due to erosion," Gogoi said.
He urged the commission to give a "serious thought" on the flood and erosion issue and consider a special grant of Rs.6,000 crore to tackle the formidable calamity faced by the state.
The chief minister also requested the commission to recommend a suitable fiscal package for the Sixth Schedule Areas of the state.
"The commission should make appropriate recommendation to cover the revenue gap of the Sixth Schedule districts," he added.
Gogoi also advocated for retaining Assam in the "Special Category" state status in the light of the Raghuram Rajan Committee report and requested the commission to set aside at least 30 percent of the shareable pool for distribution amongst the special category states.