Ranchi. The state government will soon constitute a finance commission. A proposal is being prepared for this. Finance Minister Dr. Rameshwar Oraon said that the proposal for formation of the commission will be sent to the Chief Minister soon. The Finance Department has raced for the constitution of the Finance Commission after the Central Government received information regarding non-receipt of grants for the financial year 2024-26 to the states that did not fulfill the recommendations of the State Finance Commission under the Panchayat Raj system.
For the last five years, the Finance Commission in the state is completely inactive. There is no chairman and staff in the commission. Whereas, in the light of the recommendation of the 15th Finance Commission, during the next two financial years, the Panchayati Raj Institutions of the state are to get Rs 2,736 crore as grants.
In the light of the recommendation of the 15th Finance Commission, Mamta Verma, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Panchayati Raj, has directed the states to fulfill the prescribed conditions by March 2024 to continue the grant. In the letter sent by the Joint Secretary, it has been said that the Ministry of Finance had issued an operational guideline on 14 July 2021 and 2 June 2022 for giving grants.
Under this, all rural local bodies should have the last year’s provisional account (provisional account) and the previous year’s audited account (audited account). Also it should be available online for common people. Apart from this, action taken (ATR) should be done in the light of the recommendations of the Finance Commission.
This ATR is required to be presented in the assembly. If any state has not fulfilled these conditions, then it should fulfill it by March 2024 and present the ATR in the assembly. In the absence of this, the Rural Local Bodies (RLBs) of the respective states will not get grants in the light of the recommendation of the Finance Commission in 2024-25.
