India's Fourteenth Finance Commission Report: A Swot Analysis
| DOI | 10.1177/0019556120150403 |
| Author | Amitabh Rajan |
| Date | 01 October 2015 |
| Published date | 01 October 2015 |
| Subject Matter | Article |
INDIA'S FOURTEENTH FINANCE COMMISSION
REPORT: A SWOT ANALYSIS
AMITABH RAJAN
Designed
to
be credible discourse-documents
on
our country's
inter-governmental polity, Finance Commission Reports
are outcomes
of
an important constitutional duty. India's
Fourteenth Finance Commission's Report is the latest
of
such
reports
and
also the best so far--in terms
of
decisiveness,
fairness and integrity
of
vision. Its
121
recommendations cover
a full range
of
concerns on fiscal consolidation, exhibit a high
trust-quotient
on
democratic decentralisation, and reveal deep
insights
on
procedural reforms. The author has presented a
clear and concise SWOT Analysis
for
our readers.
CONSTITUTED ON the 2nd
of
January 2013 under Article 280
of
the
Indian Constitution to review the state offinances
of
the Union and the States
and suggest measures for maintaining a fair and stable fiscal environment
for the years 2015-16 to 2019-20, the Fourteenth Finance Commission
finalised its Report (
121
recommendations) on 5th December, 2014. Follow
up action, too, has started. The institutional mechanism
of
the Finance
Commission came into existence in India on 20th November,
1951
when
the First Finance Commission was constituted by the President. How has
the institution worked during the past 64 years? There is a lot
of
academic
input on this from financial history, 1 economic theory,
2 and constitutional
law. 3 Financial history takes us to the contested terrain
of
India's colonial
past which ultimately led to the mention
of
the words 'Finance Commission'
for the first time in 19484 as a safety valve for the quest for provincial
autonomy. Political economy theorists have normatively scrutinised the
reports
of
the finance commissions to understand trends, issues and outcomes
in different contexts. Finally, there are contributions from the comparative
constitutional law insights that examine emerging balance
of
power within
polity in sovereign will formation.
THE
MANDATE
Issues in the zone
of
consideration for the recommendation
of
the finance
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