Union home minister Amit Shah’s claim of the Centre having allocated Rs 5.52 lakh crore to Odisha in the past six years during a virtual rally on Monday has been met with surprise from different quarters.
According to officials, the amount is nearly 3.5 times more than the state budget of Rs 1.50 lakh crore for the current financial year. The amount is also Rs 13,969.23 crore higher than the budget in the last five years, the officials said.
The total budgetary allocation during the last five years was Rs 538,137.77 crore (Rs 84,487.77 crore in 2015-16, Rs 94,052 crore in 2016-17, Rs 106,910 crore in 2017-18, Rs 120,028 crore in 2018-19 and Rs 132,660 crore in 2019-2020).
The figure claimed by Shah is even higher than the gross state domestic product (GSDP) of Odisha for 2019-20, which was estimated to be Rs 533,822 crore, according to officials.
While the ruling Biju Janata Dal is yet to counter Shah’s claim, financial experts questioned the amount. “The figure is exaggerated. We will soon come out with statistics to show how much money the state has received in the last six years. Everyone thinks we are fools,” said a source in the finance department.
The state receives funds according to the recommendation of Finance Commission and the money disbursed for different centrally sponsored schemes through budgetary provisions. The money is also disbursed directly to beneficiaries through the direct benefit transfer scheme.
“According to the 14th Finance Commission recommendation, Odisha’s share in central taxes stands at 4.66 per cent. In 2020-21, according to the recommendation of 15th Finance Commission, the state should get Rs 39,586 crore. But the finance ministry in its budget estimated Rs 36,299.74 crore as the state’s share. If we include the amount released to the local funds and to the state disaster relief fund along with the commission’s recommendation, the total amount would be around Rs 45,488 crore for the current year,” an official said.
“Similarly, the state’s share in central taxes and duties since 2015-16 is around Rs 184,070 crore and the amount under grants-in-aid is Rs 14,339.79 crore. If we include these amounts, the total would be around Rs 1.98 lakh crore. But we have not received the money according to the recommendation, So how could the state have received Rs 5.52 lakh crore during the last six years? It’s mind-boggling,” he remarked.
“Even if the Centre takes into account the income tax the state generates and later shares it, the total received during the last six years would not be more than Rs 2.5 lakh crore,” he added.
Former state finance minister Panchanan Kanungo said, “The centrally sponsored schemes were introduced after 1970s to help the states. The number of centrally sponsored schemes for Odisha will be around 200. But the Modi government has done away with 33 of these schemes. So the flow of funds has stopped to a certain extent.”
Kanungo alleged the Centre is behaving as if it is doing charity by releasing money to the state. “The Centre is earning revenue from the state through mining cess, taxes and other such things. It is just paying back. It should not take any credit for disbursing funds in a federal structure. In terms of the figure, the funds released at present would be more than those released by the previous governments. But if we consider it in terms of ratio, we will find there is a sharp decline in terms of assistance received from the Centre,” he said.
Former special secretary, finance, K.C. Badu, said, “ There is a difference between estimation and realisation of money. I don’t know how the home minister could make a claim about having given Rs 5.52 lakh crore to the state. We need to analyse the budgetary allocations and the amount disbursed to the beneficiaries and released under centrally sponsored schemes. At the same time, it would be wise to have cordial relations with the Centre and try to get as much money as possible through goodwill.”
Sources said the BJD has so far refrained from commenting on Shah’s claims as it does not want to annoy the Centre at this critical juncture.
BJP state unit president Samir Mohanty said, “When the home minister is saying the Centre released Rs 5.52 lakh crore, there is no scope for any dispute on the issue. He made this statement using facts and figures.”