Bhubaneswar: Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan today brushed aside the State government's concern on use of the 2011 census data by the 15th Finance Commission for fund allocation.
Explaining mediapersons, Pradhan said, “The 15th Finance Commission has given 17 percent weightage to the 1971 census data and 10 percent weightage to the 2011 data. This is not for the first time that the recommendations are being made on basis of 2011 census figures. The 14th Finance Commission too had used the 2011 data for fund allocation. In fact, Odisha will get more funds if the Commission uses data based on 2011 census,” he said adding that the state has performed well in birth control as per the 2011 census data.
"As compared to 1971, Odisha has achieved better targets in 2011 because its population figures have stabilised,” Pradhan said.
Earlier, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik had written a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi saying that the ToR of the 15th Finance Commission may adversely impact devolution of resources to the State. He had sought the personal intervention of the Prime Minister to ensure that the Finance Commission uses population data of the 1971 census instead of that of 2011 while making its recommendations.Patnaik had said that the flow of funds to the State will decline during the 15th Finance Commission if the Centre adopts 2011 census data.
Commenting on the development, BJD vice president Debi Prasad Mishra said, “Other States have also raised similar questions. The Chief Minister’s concern is how Odisha gets more allocation to catch up with other States.”