Arun Jaitley rebutts charges of discrimination against Congress-ruled states in central fund allocation

NEW DELHI: Finance Minister Arun Jaitley has rejected the Congress charge that the Centre had discriminated against the states ruled by the party on the issue of devolution of funds and said that each of the nine states are expected to witness a significant jump in the transfer of funds.

"The Congress today had a meeting of the chief ministers of the nine Congress-ruled states. The party leadership raised an issue that Congress-ruled states have been discriminated against by the Centre. Facts, however, speak otherwise," Jaitley said in a Facebook post. Using data, the FM rebutted the Congress charge showing how each of the Congress-ruled states will get a large chunk of the central funds.

The increase ranges between over three times in case of Arunachal Pradesh and around 40 per cent for Karnataka. Compared to 2013-14, Mizoram, Himachal Pradesh and Kerala will see their share double, according to Budget estimates for the current financial year.

As per the Budget estimates, in addition to the amounts mentioned for the period 2015-16, some of these states may also receive an amount from among the Rs 20,000 crore allotted to the NITI Aayog; Rs 15,000 crore surplus available with the revenue as mentioned in para 55 of the finance minister's Budget speech, Jaitley said.

He also said further amounts would also be allotted to the states for centrally supported projects of the railways and national highways. A provision would be made for Uttarakhand on account of the restoration of the flood-hitareas and the Ardh Kumbh, he said.