Deshmukh, Naidu to lead CM's team to PM

Deshmukh, Naidu to lead CM's team to PM
EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE

MUMBAI, AUG 11: Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh will soon meet the Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajapayee alongwith Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu and Chief Ministers of Southern and Western states seeking reconsideration of the Eleventh Finance Commission's recommendations to reduce the share of their States in the divisible pool of sharable taxes.

States like Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Gujarat and Kerala, have protested against the injustice meted out to them by the Finance Commission.

Official sources said Deshmukh today held telephonic discussions with Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu and the two decided to take a delegation of the Chief Ministers of the affected States to the Prime Minister.

The delegation would seek the reconsideration of the Finance Commission's principle applied while determining the share of each state in Central funds.

As a result of the principle adopted by the Commission, share of the States mantaining strict economic discipline would be reduced while States like Uttar Pradesh and Bihar would get more Central funds, the sources pointed out. Maharashtra's share has been brought down to 4.632 per cent from an earlier 6.126 per cent which means the State would get Rs 5622 crore less over the next five years.

The affected States would urge the Centre to direct the Finance Commission to review its recommendations before it is dissolved, the sources said.

Finance Minister Jayant Patil has already written to the Finance Ministers of the affected States and appealed to them to raise the issue in the meeting of the Finance Ministers of all States on August 19.