The Finance Commission is a constitutional body instituted by the Union government once in five years without any transparent discussion on selecting its members and its terms of reference (ToR). The FC’s recommendations are not justiciable and not all recommendations are accepted by the government. Normally, the Union government adds to the constitutionally mandated ToR using the Constitution’s Article 280, sub-clause 3(d)—“any other matter referred to the commission by the president in the interests of sound finance”. The NDA government gave a long ToR for the 15th FC that was coercive in more than one way. The ToR of every FC retained almost all items in the previous ToR.

Source: Indian Express June 17, 2024 20:06 UTC