Union govt must reduce number of central schemes to ease financial burden on states: Bihar Finance Minister
The Hindu
Vijay Kumar Choudhary emphasised the need for restructuring the Centre-state fiscal relations and granting financial autonomy to the States
The Bihar Government will urge the Centre to reduce the number of central schemes so that the financial burden on the states for the implementation of such projects is eased, Finance Minister Vijay Kumar Choudhary said.
Interacting with PTI, Mr. Choudhary emphasised the need for restructuring the Centre-State fiscal relations and granting financial autonomy to the States.
He said substantial addition in the number of centrally-sponsored schemes (CSS) in recent years has put an extra financial burden on a poor State like Bihar.
"CSS force States to reprioritise their spending and puts poor States at a disadvantage. It has been witnessed that large spending by the Centre on many schemes ultimately results in squeezing the Union Government's allocation. Hence, we have decided to urge the Centre to reduce the number of CSS in the States," he said.
"This will certainly empower States like Bihar to ensure greater flexibility in the implementation of select schemes and improve the delivery. We will soon write to the Centre in this regard and I will also seek an appointment with Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman to discuss the issue," Mr. Choudhary said.
The State Finance Minister said that Bihar's economic growth rate at 10.98% has been better than the national average of 7%.
"The Bihar Government had projected 9.84% growth during the 2021-22 fiscal. However, the actual growth of the State's economy was 15.04%, the highest in the last decade. But Bihar is among the poorest States in the country. Hence it deserves special financial assistance from the Centre," he said.