A famous proverb says, too many cooks spoil the soup. Same looks the situation of any state which has too many Central government-sponsored schemes with no check on its effectiveness. Finance Commission chairman NK Singh questioned the relevance of the high number of centrally sponsored schemes that are implemented by state governments of India but are largely funded by the Central Government with a defined State Government share. He indicated that many of them could be done away with.
“Does anyone know how many centrally sponsored schemes are running? Why are they running? Are benefits reaching the ground level? You will be surprised to know the numbers of central schemes. However, it remains to be seen whether all these schemes are required, are they serving their purpose, and also if the money allotted is necessary. The Shivraj Singh Chouhan Committee had rationalised the schemes but it did not have much impact… It is a huge responsibility bestowed upon us (the commission) to evaluate these schemes. Said NK Singh during a national seminar where he addressed the problems of Inter-State and Inter-district disparity of India.
Singh is a former Bihar cadre IAS officer and has served in key positions in government, including revenue secretary. He said the commission would sympathetically consider the issue of regional inequality in the eastern region and the demand for increased share of central funds to Bihar. The event was jointly organised by the Fifteenth Finance Commission and the Asian Development Research Institute.
“There is no question of looking into Bihar’s case unsympathetically on more share of central funds. I would assure you that the commission would sympathetically consider regional inequality and eastern India inequality,” said NK Singh.
He also said that the Commission would look into the aspect of funds to be allotted to panchayats and local bodies. “There is a list sent by the President of India on issues related to finance which is quite long. We will have to address those issues,” he said.
