Government Appoints 4 Members Of 16th Finance Commission

The government has appointed former expenditure secretary Ajay Narayan Jha and SBI Group Chief Economic Advisor Soumya Kanti Ghosh, and two other members of the newly-constituted 16th Finance Commission. The commission, chaired by former vice chairman of Niti Aayog Arvind Panagariya, will have 4 members, who will be assisted by Secretary Ritvik Ranjanam Pandey, two joint secretaries and one economic advisor.

Besides Jha, who was also a member in the previous 15th Finance Commission, retired bureaucrat Annie George Mathew and Artha Global Executive Director Niranjan Rajadhyaksha have been appointed as full-time members of the 16th Finance Commission.

Soumya Kanti Ghosh will be a part-time member, the finance ministry said in a notification. "The chairman and other members of the commission shall hold office from the date on which they respectively assume office up to the date of submission of report or October 31, 2025, whichever is earlier," the notification added.

The government constituted the commission under the chairmanship of Panagariya on December 31, 2023. The panel would submit its report to the President by October 31, 2025. The report would be covering five-year period beginning April 1, 2026.

Besides suggesting tax devolution between the Centre and states and revenue augmentation measures, the commission would review the present arrangements for financing disaster management initiatives with reference to the funds constituted under the Disaster Management Act, 2005. Finance Commission is a constitutional body that gives suggestions on centre-state financial relations. The erstwhile 15th Finance Commission under NK Singh had recommended that states be given 41 per cent of the divisible tax pool of the Centre during five-year period 2021-22 to 2025-26, which is at the same level as was recommended by 14th Finance Commission under Y V Reddy.

(PTI)