HYDERABAD: At last, the government has constituted the State Finance Commission, the Constitutional body that reviews financial positions of the local bodies.Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao signed the file concerned on Friday and appointed former minister and ZP chairman G Rajesham Goud, from Antargaon village in Jagtial, as the chairman, and retired ZP CEO M Chennaiah Kuruma from Kottapalli village in Rangareddy district as member of the commission.
Both of them hail from Backward Communities, and the Chief Minister has been trying to woo the segment to his party fold in the run-up to Assembly polls. “The Chief Minister appointed Rajesham Goud and Chennaiah Kuruma in view of their rich experience in the Panchayat Raj institutions,” the government stated. “The other members will be appointed soon.”
The commission was essential to make budgetary allocations of funds received from the Centre and State to local bodies. It also comes at a time when the State is amending the Panchayat Raj Institutions Act and planning to provide more funds to local bodies. In fact, the State government had issued orders for establishment of SFC in March 2015 itself. As nothing materialised, an NGO called the Forum For Good Governance approached the High Court, which directed the government in October to constitute the Commission within six weeks. The deadline expired recently.
What the law says...
As per article 243(I) and 243(Y) of the Constitution the Governor of the State shall constitute a Finance Commission for the State to review the financial position of local bodies and make recommendations.