VIJAYAWADA: After holding two rounds of meetings opposing the Terms of Reference (ToR) issued to the 15th Finance Commission by the Centre, the Finance Ministers of six States have decided to meet President Ram Nath Kovind in New Delhi on Thursday to submit a memorandum.
According to a statement issued by Finance Minister Yanamala Ramakrishnudu here on Wednesday, apart from himself, Finance Ministers of Kerala, West Bengal and Punjab States as well as the Puducherry and Delhi Union Territories will meet the President around 5 p.m and will explain to him the loss to be suffered by the States going by the ToR of the 15th Finance Commission.
The two conclaves of Finance Ministers organised by Kerala and Andhra Pradesh governments, strongly opposed the ToR recommendations to use the 2011 Census as the basis for allocation of Central share of revenue to States. The State governments also expressed concern that the borrowing limit of the States will be reduced going by ToR. After drafting a memorandum based on the deliberations made in the two meetings, the Finance Ministers decided to submit the final version of the memorandum to the President.