State forms 6th Finance Commission; HK Dwivedi appointed chairman

Kolkata: The state government has constituted the 6th State Finance Commission with former state Chief Secretary HK Dwivedi as chairman.

Apart from Dwivedi, the other members are Barnali Biswas, IAS (Retd.), Ashis Kumar Chakraborty, WBCS (Exe), (Retd.), Ruma Mukherjee, bank professional and Dr Ajay Bhattacharya, IAS (Retd.) as Member-Secretary.

The chairman and the other members of the Commission shall hold office for two years from the date on which they assume office. The Commission will review the financial position of the Panchayats and the municipalities and recommend distribution between the state and the local bodies of the net proceeds of the taxes, duties, tolls and fees leviable by the state and the allocation at all levels of their respective shares of such proceeds. The Commission will recommend the measures needed to improve the financial position of the Panchayats and municipalities.

A notification from the Finance department stated that the Commission will submit its first report by April 1, 2025. “In making recommendations, the Commission shall have regard, among other considerations, to the resources of the state government and the demands thereon on account of expenditure on administration, development and

debt-servicing; the resource-raising powers of the Panchayats and Municipalities; the responsibilities entrusted upon the Panchayats and

Municipalities by statutes and government orders; awards given by the Central Finance Commission to the local bodies; grants given by the state government to the local bodies beyond the recommendation of the State Finance Commission and the Central Finance Commission,” the notification read.

According to the notification, the commission shall determine its own procedure.

The 5th State Finance Commission had Prof. Abhirup Sarkar as its chairman.