Working president of the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) party, M.K. Stalin, said he has written a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and ten Chief Ministers of states not ruled by Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) complaining of certain clauses of the Fifteen Finance Commission affecting devolution of Central funds to state governments.
Stalin has said that the Modi government has changed the base census for its policy-making decisions from 1971 to 2011, adding that this will create “injustice” to governments which are relatively effective in controlling their populations because the Central government provides funds based on populations of states.
Since the population of India has risen drastically after 1971, states that have managed to curb this rise will be at a disadvantage compared to states that have not, as the former states could now receive lesser financial support if 2011 census data is taken as the base year.
To further support his contention, the DMK leader referred to a clause in the Fifteenth Finance Commission which says that it may “consider proposing measurable performance-based incentives to efforts and progress made in moving towards replacement level of population growth and it shall use the population data of 2011 while making its recommendations.”
Apart from PM Modi, Stalin has sent letters with the same contents to the Chief Ministers of Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, Telangana, Tamil Nadu, Odisha, West Bengal, Punjab, Puducherry and Delhi. He has sought their support in demanding modifications in the Finance Commission.