Bhubaneswar: The Chairman of the 15th Finance Commission NK Singh while interacting with the media here Wednesday, lauded the recently launched Krushak Assistance for Livelihood and Income Augmentation (KALIA) and discussed several facets of fiscal issues confronting the state.
KALIA scheme
It is in some way the best which has been conceived so far. It is our hope and expectation that the implementation of the scheme and identification of beneficiaries would be completed in a manner which is met with credibility and transparency.
Issues confronting Odisha
Odisha has the benefit of political stability. Very significant growth has been made to reduce poverty although the figures are still higher than the national average. In terms of per capita income, there has been improvement but it has to go a long way.
Healthcare in the state
Strengthening the total number of medical colleges and improving the doctors’ availability is needed. Availability of one doctor for 8000-10000 population is not a welcome picture. Auditing and monitoring to boost the Primary Health Centres are also significant.
Disaster mitigation
It will be the Commission’s endeavour what we can do to further strengthen Odisha’s capability in respect of handling disasters and in terms of mitigation measures.
Special status demand
The issue of special status is not under the purview and Terms of Reference of the Finance Commission. We will be transgressing if we are entering into the rationale for special category status. The only thing that the last Finance Commission did was it said that it was not appropriate to classify states into categories but it was their intention to examine their fiscal scenario of each individual state instead of grouping of states into one category from others.
GST compensation
We are studying the impact of GST. As regards the continuation of the GST scheme (compensation) for five years or 10 years and the compensation cess to continue, the Finance Minister of Odisha is a member of the GST Council and this is a decision entirely of the GST Council and not the Finance Commission.