Shorter terms of reference to help 16th FinComm make recommendations: Finance Secretary T V Somanathan
Finance Secretary T V Somanathan on Thursday said the Terms of Reference of the 16th Finance Commission have been kept short to give the panel more freedom to arrive at their recommendations after hearing out stakeholders. The Union Cabinet, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, earlier this week approved the Terms of Reference (ToR) of the 16th Finance Commission, which will make recommendations for the five-year period beginning April 1, 2026.
Talking to reporters, Somanathan said the working group, which was instrumental in framing the ToR, paid attention to the points raised by states and drafted a ToR that is shorter than those of the previous finance commissions.
"… the ToR reflects some of the points made by the states.
This gives the commission much more leeway and freedom to take into account all the inputs that they get from different layers of government, different experts, different people who appear before the commission and they can then (pronounce) an award that is within the constitutional frame but takes into account all stakeholders without too much of pre-decided items in the ToR," Somanathan said.
The ToR are neutral, they give every state freedom to make its submission before the commission and for the commission to take all of those submission into account and then pronounce an award or a recommendation that is the «best balance» between the different considerations, he added.
The ToR is short, but is all encompassing, Somanathan said, adding that the commission will listen to every state and the Centre and then arrive at a «balanced award».
The government is expected to soon name the chairperson and members of the 16th Finance Commission.
