Vijay Kelkar heads 13th Finance Commission
15 Nov 2007
Other members of the commission are Indira Rajaraman, emeritus professor, National Institute of Public Finance and Policy, Abusaleh Shariff, chief economist, National Council of Applied Economic Research, and Atul Sarma, former vice chancellor of Rajiv Gandhi University.
B K Chaturvedi, member of planning commission will be a part time member while Sumit Bose will be the secretary of the commission.
Apart from the terms of reference laid down in the Constitution, the 13th Finance Commission will review the state of finances of the union and the states keeping in view the operation of the States'' Debt Consolidation & Relief Facility 2005-2010 (DCRF).
The commission will also suggest measures for maintaining a stable and sustainable fiscal environment consistent with equitable growth.
The 13 Finance Commission will also review the present arrangements for financing disaster management with reference to the National Calamity Contingency Fund and the Calamity Relief Fund and the funds envisaged in the Disaster Management Act, 2005.
The recommendations will be for a five-year period from 1 April 2010 to 31 March 2015.
The Commission is expected to submit its report by 31 October 2009.
The Finance Commission is a constitutional body set up every five years by the President of India to make recommendations relating to the distribution of the net proceeds of taxes between the union and the states.