State Planning Board vice-chairman B. Vinod Kumar has expressed concern that the BJP-led Central Government is moving forward towards a unitary government rather than a federal one in violation of the provisions enshrined in the Constitution.
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He lamented that not only political issues, but financial issues have also become bone of contention between the Centre and the States in recent times. This could be seen from the fact that the Centre was collecting taxes in the name of cess on various items. But the revenue thus generated was not being distributed to the States as the funds were being utilised by the Centre for its own programmes.
Moreover, the XV Finance Commission suggested that the Union Government constitute a committee to review the FRBM Act which recommended increase in FRBM limits and borrowings from open market. “But the Union Government has chosen only few recommendations that suited it and not the others,” he said. Mr. Vinod Kumar was delivering lecture to commemorate Acharya Kothapally Jayashankar’s birth anniversary on the theme “Centre-State relations: Futute of Federalism”. The lecture was organised by the Centre for Economic and Social Studies.
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He said there were strained relations between the State Government and the Governor in almost all the non-BJP ruled States while there was friction between the Centre and the State, especially in States where regional parties were at the helm of affairs.
University of Hyderabad former professor G. Haragopal said each State had its unique features and required autonomy for the State Governments as they were close to people and answerable to them. But in practice, the State governments were being made to depend on the Centre for various subjects. The Centre was enacting laws on State subjects concurrently without consulting respective states.
CESS director E. Revathi welcomed the participants.