Centre making states financially weaker: Gehlot

Gehlot also tweeted details about devolution, divisible pool, and change in sharing pattern of centrally sponsored schemes. He said the actual share of states from the divisible pool has come down from 41 percent to 34 percent.

Hitting out at Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the Centre's economic policies, Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot on Thursday charged that the central government is making states financially weaker.

Supporting TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee who has expressed concern on alleged attacks on democracy and constitution in a letter to leaders of opposition parties, Gehlot said he too had raised in the assembly the issue of states getting alleged step-motherly treatment from the Centre. "On the one hand, the prime minister talks about cooperative federalism and on the other hand the states are being made financially weak," Gehlot tweeted. The chief minister said the central government has imposed cess on diesel and petrol, basic excise duty is being reduced constantly and special excise duty and additional excise duty is increasing. Therefore, the share of states from the divisible pool has significantly reduced.

Also, he said, the Centre has increased the share of states in centrally sponsored schemes and reduced the Centre's share which has adversely impacted the revenue of states. Gehlot also tweeted details about devolution, divisible pool and change in sharing pattern of centrally sponsored schemes.

He said the actual share of states from the divisible pool has come down from 41 per cent to 34 per cent. After the recommendation of the 14th finance commission, the central government increased financial devolution to states from central tax collection from 32 per cent to 42 per cent from 2015-16.

At the same time, the central government put an extra financial burden on states by increasing the share of states in central sponsored schemes due to which states did not get any benefit from the increase in the financial devolution, he said.

Gehlot also tweeted details about changes in funding pattern in 10 centrally sponsored schemes as per which the state share in National Food Security Mission, National Agriculture Development Scheme, integrated women's empowerment program, and PM Gram Sadak Yojana was increased from zero percent to 40 percent while the state share was increased from 10 percent to 40 percent in the integrated child development services.

In Project Tiger, the state share was increased from 15 per cent to 40 percent whereas the increase in the state share was from 25 percent to 40 percent in the National Health Mission and National Rural Livelihood Mission, he said.

Also, the state share of the Indira Gandhi canal project has increased from 25 percent to 50 percent.