Gowda tells Centre to abridge award term

By Our Special Correspondent

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, AUG. 20. The former Prime Minister, Mr. H. D. Deve Gowda, has said that the only option before the Union Government vis-a-vis the controversial award of the Eleventh Finance Commission is to abridge the number of years for which the award would be in force.

Mr. Gowda, in the Kerala capital after attending a farmers' rally organised by the Janata Dal (Secular) in Kozhikode on Saturday, said the Government could think of reducing the period of validity of the award to one or two years and appoint the Twelfth Finance Commission to come up with fresh proposals on devolution of funds to the States. Article 280 of the Constitution, under which the Finance Commission is constituted, does provide for abridgement of the period for which a Finance Commission's recommendations remain valid, he explained.

The former Prime Minister said the Chief Ministers' conference, convened by the Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister, Mr. N. Chandrababu Naidu, would not produce any tangible result. For that matter, even a meeting of the National Development Council (NDC) would not be able to throw up any solution to the problem. The Union Cabinet can also do little in the matter since it has already approved the Finance Commission report ``without realising its implications'', he said.

Mr. Gowda questioned the Union Government's claim that what had been submitted by the Eleventh Finance Commission was only an interim report and that the final report is due before August 31. The Prime Minister, Mr. A. B. Vajpayee, himself is reported to have requested Mr. Naidu to postpone the Chief Ministers' conference on the plea that the Union Government is yet to get the final report of the Eleventh Finance Commission.

Mr. Gowda said such assertions are not based on facts. The Eleventh Finance Commission has already submitted its final report and it has been accepted by the Union Cabinet. The report which the Prime Minister spoke about related to the additional terms of reference handed over to the Commission by the Union Cabinet on March 28 last. This report is expected to be submitted before August 31 and would deal exclusively with the additional terms of reference on ways to monitor utilisation of funds by States.

The Chief Ministers' conference, he felt, would help highlight the injustice that the Eleventh Finance Commission has done to a large number of States. The Commission award has caused heartburning among the well-off States and 17 of them have so far come out against the award and sought urgent review of the norms governing division of the net proceeds of Central taxes and duties under the Commission award for the coming five years, he pointed out.

Mr. Gowda said nobody has the case that the benefits sanctioned by the Eleventh Finance Commission to the backward States should be taken away. It should be possible to address the grievances of the well-off States without taking away what has already been given to the backward States.

The former Prime Minister replied in the negative when asked whether abridging the validity of the Finance Commission award would not amount to rejection of the award.

Mr. Gowda said a massive farmers' movement would be launched in the country to protest against the ill-effects of import liberalisation. The movement would begin from Kerala with a rally in October as the State is the worst-affected by import liberalisation and dumping of commodities from abroad. Rallies are also proposed to be organised in Uttar Pradesh on September 24 and in Rajastan, Karnataka and Maharashtra in the coming months, he said.

Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Section  : Southern States
Previous : Ban orders till Aug. 27
Next     : White paper on State finances sought