Bhubaneswar: April 15: Replying to State Government’s concern over the Terms of Reference (ToR) of the 15th Finance Commission, Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan said, ‘15th Finance Commission has given 17 percent weightage to the 1971 census data and 10 percent weightage to the 2011 data. The 14th Finance Commission too had used the 2011 data for fund allocation’.
He further added, ‘Odisha will get more funds if the Commission uses data based on 2011 censuses. As compared to 1971, Odisha has achieved better targets in 2011 because its population figures have stabilised’.
It is to be noted,in a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik said that the flow of funds to the State will decline during the 15th Finance Commission if the Centre adopts 2011 census data as base. He sought the personal intervention of the Prime Minister to ensure that the Finance Commission uses population data of the 1971 census instead of that of 2011 while making its recommendations.
