Norms met but Centre delaying funds: OPS

The grants to the local bodies recommended by the 15th Finance Commission for 2021-22 is Rs 1,313 crore as against Rs 1,737 crore in 2020 -21. This is substantially lower than the Rs 2,519 crore recommended as grants by the 14th Finance Commission, Panneerselvam said pulling up the Centre.

OPS handling the finance portfolio also noted that the final report of the 15th Finance Commission tabled in the Parliament belied the hopes of Tamil Nadu. The recommendations in the report are disappointing and the injustice done to the state by earlier Commissions. In particular, the recommendations and the funds assured by the 14th Finance Commission, has not been released and the financial grievances are not addressed.

The Government of India is yet to release Rs 548.76 crore due to local bodies in the state as basic grants and Rs 2,029.22 crore as performance grants as per the recommendations of the 14th Finance Commission. With considerable follow up, basic grants of Rs 3,796.81 crore due for the year 2019-20 were obtained during the current year. The Centre has not released performance grants recommended by the 14th Finance Commission due to almost all states since 2017-18.

Tamil Nadu has fulfilled all the conditions indicated for the performance grants and submitted its claims. We urge the Centre to release all the performance grants due to Tamil Nadu based on the 14th Finance Commission recommendations without further delay.

The total amount of local body grants recommended for Tamil Nadu for the year 2021-22 has come down to Rs 3,979 crore from Rs 5,344 crore in 2020-21.

Moreover, the total amount of grants for urban local bodies too has declined significantly from the amounts recommended by the 14th Finance Commission i.e. from Rs 8,232.31 crore for the period 2016-20 against Rs 7,187 crore in 2021-26. This is because the 15th Finance Commission has adopted an incorrect base of the proportion of the sanctions, OPS noted.