Fiscal federalism at risk: are Finance Commissions undoing a grand design of the Indian Constitution?
· livemint.com
The Constituent Assembly vested extraordinary powers in the Centre on a grand bargain of power-sharing with Indian states. However, the 16th Finance Commission shifts the balance of power to the Centre. Where does that leave India's ethos of fiscal federalism?
The 16th FC has also gone around the states and allocated ₹791,493 crore of grants directly to rural and urban local bodies. It is well accepted that the thir...