POLITICS-Apathetic MPs

Untenable Claim THE Ninth Finance Commission's claim that it has sought to transfer to the states a larger proportion of the estimated total revenue receipts of the centre (22.74 per cent during 1990-95 as against 22.65 per cent in the preceding five-year period) is open to question on at least one major ground, namely, that while the earlier awards sought to cover the non-plan revenue accounts of the states, the present commission's award covers the plan side of the states' revenue accounts also. Nine per cent of the latter award comprises grants recommended to cover plan deficits on revenue account. If these grants are excluded, the proportion of central "revenue receipts* to be transferred to the states will work out to 20.81 per cent. It is this part of the recommended transfers which will be available to the states for financing their non-plan revenue accounts. So there can be no doubt whatsoever that as far as their non-plan revenue accounts are concerned, the states' share has come down.