Under pressure from the Opposition, the Delhi government on Wednesday finally tabled the report of the Fourth Finance Commission in the Assembly. However, deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia said that the AAP government will implement the recommendations of the report only if the Centre too implements them.
The report suggests measures to improve the financial health of the civic bodies and recommends the Delhi government should distribute the funds collected from various tax levies among these bodies.
The Opposition has been consistently demanding that the AAP government table the report and the three BJP legislators had not only met lieutenant-governor Najeeb Jung in this regard, but had also taken the matter to court.
Due to mounting pressure, the deputy chief minister tabled the report in the House. The commission has given various recommendations to the Centre, the Delhi government and the civic bodies in the report. While tabling the report in the Delhi Assembly, Mr Sisodia said that until the Centre implements the recommendations it will impossible for the AAP government to implement them. He also urged the civic bodies to implement the said recommendations.
The recommendations for the Delhi government in the report include that 12.5 per cent of the collection from taxes and fees after the fiscal year 2012-13 should be kept for the dividable pool.
The Fourth Finance Commission report excludes the collection from the motor vehicles tax and from the entertainment and betting taxes to decide the percentage of share for the civic bodies. It also recommends that the formula for the fiscal division between the civic bodies should be changed to 70/30.
For the distribution of funds from the divisible pool, the Fourth Finance Commission report has suggested that 50 per cent of the funds should be transferred to the MCDs according to the population and land area covered under each one and the rest according to the financial position of the body and its ability to provide four basic facilities to the people. It also suggested that the funds transfer to the northern and eastern Delhi areas should be more than the central MCD and South MCD.
