Tamil Nadu Deputy Chief Minister O. Panneerselvam and AIADMK MPs led by Lok Sabha Deputy Speaker called on 15th Finance Commission (FC) chairman N.K. Singh in Delhi on Thursday and raised certain issues regarding the allocation of funds to States.
Mr. Panneerselvam, who had earlier raised the issue during the pre-budget meeting in New Delhi earlier in the year, told reporters on Thursday that State was standing to lose going by the present methodology of disbursing funds.
“Tamil Nadu has been implementing population control measures effectively over the years. We have also highlighted the loss incurred due to various natural disasters,” Mr. Panneerselvam, also handling the finance portfolio, said.
The 15th Finance Commission would use the Census 2011 as the basis for population data and it was against the interests of Tamil Nadu, which has been effectively implementing population control measures. The State government has urged the Finance Commission to use the 1971 Census data.
The AIADMK delegation is set to meet Union Minister of State for Finance Pon. Radhakrishnan, Union Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad and Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitely later in the day.
It may be recalled that Tamil Nadu government chose to stay away from the meeting of Finance Ministers of Southern States organised by Kerala government earlier this month.
