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Raje for changes in Gadgil formula

JAIPUR: Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje on Wednesday expressed concern over the requirement for States for spending large amounts of Central assistance under the Centre’s guidance alone and called for a revision in the Gadgil formula to make it “more progressive”.

Addressing the 54th meeting of the National Development Council presided over by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in New Delhi, Ms. Raje raised the issues relating to Centre-State financial relations and said Central assistance to states fell short by Rs.59 lakh crore during the Tenth Five Year Plan period.

Under the 11th Plan, a further reduction in the share of resources to states has been envisaged with the Central assistance coming down from 26 per cent to 23 per cent. With the untied funds being constantly reduced, the dependence of states on the Centre was increasing, said Ms. Raje according to an official release here.“The increasing size of Centrally Sponsored Schemes amounts to almost completely taking away the flexibility of state governments,” Ms. Raje affirmed, adding that the Central help should be released in the shape of untied Normal Central Assistance (NCA), while the funds flowing through CSS should be minimised.

The Chief Minister also made a reference to key initiatives taken by her government and listed several schemes which had been adopted into the CSS.

She welcomed the higher levels of investment envisaged from private sector under the public-private partnership model in the 11th Plan and suggested that the Centre consider alternative PPP models as well.

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