During Question Hour, Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha and Congress MP Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury asked the Finance Minister if the Centre was biased in the allocation of funds, which led to a heated exchange between the two leaders.
The Congress MP asked, “There is a general perception that non-BJP States are being deprived of their due. Is it true that the State of Karnataka has been deprived of obtaining its legitimate due? It was all hunky dory six months back, what happened now?”
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman dismissed Mr. Chowdhury’s claims and said,“Devolution to States happens in direct tax matters as per recommendations of the Finance Commission. The GST, particularly to SGST goes 100% to States. No one can do anything. The IGST is collected because it involves a lot of interstate payments. It is periodically reviewed. Fifty per cent is grossly divided and periodically adjusted. The CGST is divided as per the advice of the commission. Rate fixation has nothing to do with the Government of India. Finance Commission meets different stakeholders and then submits its recommendations.”
“I don’t have the right or any role to play here. This apprehension that some States are discriminated against is a politically vitiated narrative. The systems are well-placed. I don’t have the discretion to play around with Finance Commission recommendations,” the Finance Minister retorted.