Amendments sought to Terms of Reference

Amaravati: Opposing the terms of reference (ToR) of the 15th Finance Commission, Finance Minister Yanamala Ramakrishnudu suggested amendments to it during the 28th meeting of the Southern Zonal Council in Bengaluru in Karnataka on Tuesday.

He said that the 1971 Census should be taken as the basis instead of taking 2011 Census as basis for resource allocation. He explained that it would adversely affect Southern States which have shown declining fertility rates and lower population growth rates.

The Council has deliberated various issues concerning the States of Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Kerala, Union Territory of Puducherry and Government of India.

The meeting was held after a gap of nearly 2 years and lot of issues have cropped up during the period in the country and Andhra Pradesh too, Ramakrishnudu said. 

He stated that the Central government should take steps for resolving the issues that have arisen in the implementation of the AP Reorganisation Act, 2014, in a specified time frame.