SHILLONG, Jan 23: Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma on Thursday said it is the constitutional right of a state to get its share of central funds even as he stated that the idea of becoming self-reliant is great but achieving it is very difficult.
“We want Meghalaya to become self-reliant but even states like Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu and Gujarat struggle to do so although they are far ahead of us in terms of taxes,” Sangma said.
He was reacting to the criticism of Deputy Chief Minister Prestone Tynsong for his remarks that he is ready to go to Delhi with a begging bowl and folded hands in the interest of the people of the state.
The Chief Minister said, “The entire federal system is based on this method of sharing with the states, so we have constitutional rights to get that share and we get it on the basis of recommendations made by the finance commission.”
To say that the state should be completely self-reliant is a great idea and a great goal but practically a very big challenge, he said. “We have made a huge jump from less than Rs 2,000 crore to touching Rs 5,000 crore in terms of the state’s own revenue which, if you look at the 2018 figures, would have been close to 50 to 60 per cent of the state’s budget of that time. That is how we have grown,” Sangma said.
“When it comes to overall revenue structure for the state government, close to about 80 per cent revenue, including taxes and centrally-sponsored schemes, comes from the central government. It is true for the smaller states as their size limits their ability to generate that much of tax revenue and build a robust base for GST collection,” he added.
Stating that the state’s revenue is limited to three to four areas, he said, “The first revenue which we get is GST which fluctuates a bit but, on an average, it is going up. Second is our excise revenue and we are getting a decent amount. We started off 2018 with Rs 180-190 crore and in six years’ time, we are crossing the Rs 500 crore mark. We are on our way to increase it but obviously, it cannot be enough to take care of all our expenditures.”
“The third revenue comes from VAT on fuel and we are seeing a healthy growth. Then, we have non-tax revenue which is mostly royalty which again is a challenge as we are yet to get big revenue from coal. Tax collection has grown and so has our size of budget and expenditures,” he added.
