Jaipur, Aug 1
The Rajasthan government on Thursday asked the 16th Finance Commission to consider treating heatwaves and locusts a natural disaster while demanding additional financial assistance and a hike in states' share in central taxes to 50 per cent, officials said.
The state government said that the states get only 41 per cent share in taxes from the Centre presently, and sought it should be increased to 50 per cent in the coming time.
The demand came as Finance Commission Chairman Arvind Panagariya and Commission members, who are visiting the state, met Chief Minister Bhajanlal Sharma, Deputy Chief Ministers Diya Kumari, and Premchand Bairwa and other ministers and officials.
The Chief Minister said: "In view of the difficult geographical conditions of the state, vast area, desert terrain, acute shortage of water resources, large population of Scheduled Castes and Tribes, the Finance Commission should recommend to the Central government to provide additional financial assistance to Rajasthan."
Presiding over a meeting held with the Finance Commission, he said that Rajasthan is a state with a vast land area and scattered population, due to which it costs more to provide basic facilities like education, health, drinking water, electricity, communication facilities etc. to the common people here as compared to other states. He said that keeping in mind this additional cost and the geographical situation of the state, additional financial resources should be provided to the state.
He also said that the state has to face heatwaves almost every year, which affects the livelihood of the residents of both rural and urban areas. Also, locusts cause damage to crops. Keeping this in mind, both heatwaves and locusts should be included in the definition of natural disaster in the National Disaster Response Fund (NDRF).
The Chief Minister requested the Finance Commission to develop such a formula for the distribution of central taxes, which would become a means of removing regional disparities and help in allocating more resources to provide important minimum infrastructure for all sectors/sections of the society. He also urged to give special importance to the area of the state while finalising the states' share in central tax income. He also requested the Finance Commission to restart maintenance grants for roads and bridges, irrigation assets and forests.
Sharma said that irregular and uncertain monsoon is a big challenge in front of the agriculture-based economy of the state. The state is facing extreme difficulties due to limited and continuously decreasing water resources. Due to the lack of surface water in the state and due to excessive dependence on groundwater, the groundwater level is continuously falling in all parts of the state. Therefore, the Finance Commission should also consider giving grants for water deficits.
Deputy CM Diya Kumari, who also holds the Finance portfolio, urged the Commission to adopt a normative approach in view of the difficult geographical conditions of the state and in accordance with the aspirations of 8 crore people of the state. It should distribute resources in such a way that the achievement of the goal of Viksit India- Viksit Rajasthan gets speed.
Commission Chairman Panagariya said that the Commission is visiting the states and taking suggestions from them. After Himachal Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, and Punjab, this is the fourth state the Commission is visiting and the suggestions received from the states are being considered seriously.