ANAJI
The three-member Third State Finance Commission is all set to submit its report next month. Making rural and urban local governing bodies self-reliant, making them augment their own source of revenue and granting powers to these local bodies to levy and collect taxes and fees, are some of the crucial areas that the Commission has focused upon.
The five-year plan, which is expected to be placed in the Winter Session of the State Legislative Assembly, scheduled in January, 2024 will be implemented from 2024 to 2029.
After almost 12 years, in January 2022, the State government had constituted the Third State Finance Commission under former retired finance secretary IAS Daulat Hawaldar.
The formation of the Third State Finance Commission was pending since 2009-10, after the term of Second State Finance Commission headed by IAS officer late Alban Couto expired in 2010.
Sources informed that the Commission has completed the field study and is in the process of compilation of the report, which is likely to be submitted to the State government next month.
“The plan has to be implemented from financial year 2024 onwards. Before that it has to be passed by the Cabinet and tabled in the State Assembly,” sources said.
Sources said that the Commission will be recommending various measures to strengthen the local bodies by way of augmenting their own sources of revenue, with the government giving them powers to levy and collect various taxes and fees.
“Currently, panchayats and municipalities are widely dependent on Central and State grants. It is important that we empower these local governing bodies for bringing sustainability,” sources said.
The Commission has so far visited all the panchayats and municipal areas and interacted with the local elected representatives and public in general. During their interaction, the Commission realised that the local bodies are not financially sustainable despite having various assets from which revenue can be augmented.
Goa’s first Finance Commission was set up in 1999 and in its report it had made 26 recommendations on functions, administration, and finances of the local bodies, out of which, 15 were accepted, nine were rejected and two were partly accepted. Out of the 15 accepted recommendations, six were fully implemented whereas, one was implemented partially.
The second SFC inter alia undertook the task of mapping the functions transferred to the local bodies with activities, to facilitate their implementation and made recommendations on devolution of finances according to the programmes/schemes executed by different tiers of local self-Government through its report in 2008. However, none of its recommendations were implemented.
