Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren has written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi highlighting the “withering trust” between the Centre and...
Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren has written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi highlighting the “withering trust” between the Centre and the states over Goods and Services Tax compensation, PTI reported on Saturday. Soren asked Modi to intervene in the matter to reinforce the trust in the “spirit of cooperative federalism”.
Soren claimed that the states have been deserted by the central government. “Reluctance and inability of the GOI [government of India] to give full compensation to the states is betrayal of the commitment it made in the Union Parliament and also in all the council meetings held so far (sic),” the chief minister said in his letter dated September 4.
On August 29, the Union Ministry of Finance had put forth two options before states to meet the shortfall of Rs 2.35 lakh crore in GST compensation for 2020-’21. The first option is that the states may borrow the full compensation deficit of Rs 2.35 lakh crore via a special window in consultation with the RBI. The second option entailed borrowing the entire projected shortfall of Rs 2.35 lakh crore this year, facilitated by the central bank.
Soren called the Centre’s move an “act of sovereign default” that runs against the very spirit of the cooperative federalism. In...
