Pinarayi calls for panel to review NITI Aayog
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Pinarayi Vijayan has called for a committee of chief ministers to review the functioning of the NITI Aayog.
“Four years have passed since the NITI Aayog came into being. I suggest a committee of chief ministers to look into its working. It could make recommendations that can be considered at the next governing council meeting,” the chief minister said at the NITI Aayog’s fourth governing council meeting in Delhi on Sunday.
Pinarayi said the GST has limited the freedom of states to raise financial resources. As against the expectations of a buoyant revenue growth, the state is witnessing substantial revenue losses and was dependent on compensation.
Kerala’s development programmes are constrained by the changes in the funding pattern of centrally sponsored schemes, the CM said. The changes have increased the state’s contribution to CSS, resulting in shrinking the fiscal space of the state.
He urged the Centre to reframe the terms of reference of the 15th Finance Commission so as to ensure fairness in devolution of resources to states. He asked the Centre to set up an AIIMS in the state and sought the PM’s intervention for fixing support prices for rubber and coconut based on the M S Swaminathan committee formula.