Non-BJP Chief Ministers’ Demands At Meet Led By PM

The Niti Aayog meeting on Saturday, in which the Prime Minister urged all states to work together towards the goal of a developed India, also saw some opposition chief ministers raise issues affecting their states, with their main grievances boiling down to the sharing of resources. 

While Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin pushed for the Centre to share more funds with states, his Punjab counterpart argued that his state had no water to share with Haryana. 

Mr Stalin, whose government has been locked in a face-off with the BJP-led Centre over the three-language clause in the National Education Policy and has approached the Supreme Court claming that over Rs 2,000 crore was being withheld from the state because of that, urged the Union government “extend non-discriminatory cooperation” to all states, including Tamil Nadu.

Speaking at the 10th Governing Council of the Niti Aayog, the DMK chief said, “It is not ideal for states in a federal democracy like India to struggle, argue, or litigate to receive the funds rightfully due to them. It hinders the development of both the state and the country.”

Making a case for the states’ share of divisible tax revenue to be increased to 50%, the Tamil Nadu Chief Minister pointed out that the 15th Finance Commission had recommended that 41% of divisible tax revenue be shared with states. Over the past four years, he claimed, only 33.16% of the Union Government’s gross tax revenue had been shared with the states.

“Meanwhile, the share of expenditure expected from state governments in centrally sponsored schemes continues to rise, which further strains the finances of states like Tamil Nadu. On the one hand, reduced tax devolution from the Union affects state finances. On the other hand, higher contributions required for central schemes impose additional burdens,” he said. 

Proposing that the states’ share be increased to 50%, the DMK chief urged the Centre to seriously consider the demand. He also praised Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision to make India a developed country and achieve a $30 trillion economy by 2047.

Yamuna Water

Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, whose government is in a dispute with Haryana over the sharing of water from the Bhakra-Nangal Dam, emphasised at the meeting that his state is facing a shortage and has no water to give. 

The Aam Aadmi Party leader argued that, given the situation in Punjab, a Yamuna-Sutlej-Link (YSL) canal should be considered for construction instead of the Satluj-Yamuna-Link (SYL) canal.

According to a statement, the chief minister said the Ravi, Beas, and Sutlej rivers are already in deficit and water should be diverted from surplus to deficit basins. He also asserted that Punjab has repeatedly requested to be included in negotiations for the allocation of Yamuna’s water as a pact under the Yamuna-Sutlej-Link project – signed between the erstwhile Punjab and Uttar Pradesh on March 12, 1954 – which had entitled Punjab to two-thirds of the Yamuna’s water.

The agreement did not specify the area to be irrigated by Yamuna, he said, adding that, before the reorganisation, the Yamuna, like the Ravi and Beas flowed through Punjab.

He pointed out that while apportioning the river water between Punjab and Haryana, the Yamuna was not considered, whereas the water of Ravi and Beas were.

Citing a 1972 report by the centrally-constituted Irrigation Commission, Mr Mann said that it states that Punjab (post-1966, after its reorganisation) falls in the Yamuna River Basin, and therefore, if Haryana has a claim over the water of Ravi and Beas rivers, Punjab should also have an equal claim on Yamuna’s water.

The Niti Aayog meeting was attended by most chief ministers, barring West Bengal’s Mamata Banerjee, Karnataka’s Siddaramaiah, Kerala’s Pinarayi Vijayan, Puducherry’s N Rangaswamy and Bihar’s Nitish Kumar