After Centre, When Will Odisha Govt Form State Finance Commission?

Bhubaneswar: With the Centre constituting the 16th Finance Commission, people have started speculating over the Odisha government forming the state panel.

While many are keen to know as to when the Odisha government will constitute the state finance commission, experts are of the opinion that it is for the state authorities to initiate the process.

Notably, the Central government on Sunday constituted the 16th Finance Commission with former Niti Aayog vice-chairman Arvind Panagaria as its chairman.

Experts say it is now up to the Odisha government to constitute the state finance commission for recommending the formula for grant and devolution of funds to the panchayati raj institutions (PRI) and urban local bodies (ULBs).

The commission, whose recommendations are valid for five years, is required to identify assignment of taxes to be levied by (ULBs and PRIs and recommend what percentage of the state’s own taxes are to be shared with these institutions.

The panel also recommends the ways and means for devolution of resources from the state level to ULBs and PRIs for five years and suggest measures to empower these institutions.

It may be noted here that the first State Finance Commission was headed by Justice S K Mohanty. Similarly, Trilochan Kanungo was the chairman of the second Finance Commission. Noted economist Sudhakar Panda and retired IAS officer Chinmay Basu were the chairmen of the third and fourth Finance Commission, respectively.

In 2018, the Odisha government had formed the fifth State Finance Commission headed by retired IAS officer Rabinarayan Senapati as its chairman. It submitted its report on August 2, 2019, while the ATR was laid on February 17, 2020, sources said.

The recommendations of the fifth State Finance Commission are valid for five years commencing from April 1, 2020.