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Assam minister Himanta Biswa Sarma.[/caption]
Mumbai, April 28 (PTI): Assam Finance Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma today questioned the "inequality" in the lives of the people of North East states, while asserting the importance of Central government schemes.
Sarma was speaking at India Economic Summit 2018 being held at the Bombay Stock Exchange here.
"You have (in the Constitution) Schedule 1 - List 1, List 2 and List 3. Now health is a state subject. Karnataka is capable of launching a scheme like Ayushman Bharat and individuals there can access insurance cover. Can a state like Nagaland launch an insurance scheme of that magnitude without the Centre's support?" he questioned.
The Ayushman Bharat- National Health Protection Scheme is a Union government initiative that seeks to provide health insurance coverage of Rs 5 lakh per family to 10 crore families. He said that the people of Nagaland, or Assam, were paying the same amount of tax as those of Karnataks.
"Why inequality in their lives? I am also paying the same tax, irrespective of geographical boundaries," he added. Sarma questioned if states in the northeast or Uttarakhand would have access to an all weather road without the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY).
"The relationship between the Centre and states on the political front is clear and there is no scope of interpretation. But the economic relationship is still evolving," he said.
"It is a hard task and I believe, in India, the relation between the states and the Centre on all the three lists needs a relook," he said.
He further said that while the 14th Finance Commission raised the states' share in the divisible tax pool to 42 per cent from the earlier 32 per cent, the onus of many Central sector schemes was shifted to the states. "This (15th) Finance Commission has to make certain things very clear. What are central schemes? Whether the Centre is allowed to change the goal post in between?" he said.
He added that the Centre and states should come face to face and have an interaction and try to create a new India without conflicts between the states and the Centre.
Former Jammu and Kashmir finance minister Haseeb Drabu, who was also present at the summit, mooted the idea of redesigning the framework of federalism in the country, by changing it from sharing of taxes to sharing of resources.
"I think the time has come (to change) from tax sharing federalism to a resource sharing federalism," he said.
He added that there was nothing in the Constitution that prevented it from changing the framework of federalism from sharing of taxes to sharing of resources.
"Time has changed, the economic regime has changed, India has changed. Policy making on federal finance has got stuck somewhere in the 1950s. We need to re-examine the entire process," Drabu said.
When the Chairman of the 15th Finance Commission, N K Singh, who was sitting in the audience, was asked to share his views, he said, "One of the terms of reference of the Finance Commission directly relates to the GST (Goods and Services Tax) and therefore in addressing them, we believe an engagement with the GST Council would be purposeful."
When asked if the Finance Commission had a say in sharing of resources and not just taxes, Singh said, "The Constitution does not inhibit us. These are suggestions we definitely value."