First Meeting of the Fifteenth Finance Commission held today

The Fifteenth Finance Commission, constituted on 27th of November 2017, held its first meeting today at North Block in New Delhi. The Meeting was held under the Chairmanship of Shri N.K. Singh and was attended by all the other Members of the Commission i.e. Shri Shaktikanta Das and Dr. Anoop Singh, as well as the part time Members Dr. Ashok Lahiri and Dr. Ramesh Chand.

The Commission held preliminary discussions on the Terms of Reference for the Fifteenth Finance Commission as per the Order made by the President of India and notified by the Ministry of Finance on 27th November, 2017.

The Commission was cognisant that it has been assigned wide-ranging Terms of Reference which needed to be suitably addressed. Towards this objective, it was felt that wide-ranging consultations with all stake holders including various Ministries of the Union Government, all State Governments, Local Bodies, Panchayats and Political parties of each State Government needed to be expeditiously initiated.

The Commission recognised that there was also need to undertake analytical papers, analysis from leading research organisations within the country and elsewhere to suitably address the Terms of Reference.

The Commission was keen to seek academic inputs and inter-actions with leading Think Tanks and domain knowledge experts which would assist the Commission in its work.

The Commission approved the setting-up of its office at Jawahar Vyapar Bhawan on Janpath in New Delhi.