The Union government today appointed finance secretary Ajay Narayan Jha as a member in the 15th finance commission. He has been appointed in place of former revenue secretary Shaktikanta Das who resigned from the membership following his appointment as governor of Reserve Bank.
“In pursuance of clause (1) of the article 280 of the constitution, read with section 3, 4 and 6 of the Finance Commission (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act, 1951, the President is pleased to appoint Ajay Narayan Jha as a member of the commission with effect from March 1, 2019,” said the government in an official notification.
President constitutes a finance commission every five years or earlier under article 280 of Indian constitution. The constitutional body decides the division of revenue between the centre and the states and also among the states themselves.
The recommendations of finance commission have far reaching impact on the finances of the Union and state governments as the panel decides how the revenues collected by union government will be divided between the union and states, and also among the states for a period of five years under a formula devised by it.
In a major policy decision, after assuming office in May 2014, Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government had accepted the recommendation of 14th finance commission headed by former RBI governor YV Reddy to increase the share of states from 32% to 42% in the taxes collected by the centre.
In November 2017, NDA government had constituted the 15th finance commission under the chairmanship of former planning commission member NK Singh which will decide the formula for division of revenue between the centre and states for a period of five years, from April 2020 to March 2025.