Ex-min Pawaiyya to head 6th state finance commission

Bhopal: The long-awaited appointments to the independent boards and corporations in the state have started. The first appointment was made late on Thursday night, with an official notification announcing the formation of the 6th State Finance Commission with former minister Jaibhan Singh Pawaiyya as the chairman. Retired IAS of the 1985 batch K K Singh has been appointed as a member of the commission. Former additional secretary of the state assembly Virendra Kumar has been made the member secretary of the commission.Pawaiyya, a former national president of the Bajrang Dal, was also a minister in the erstwhile Shivraj Singh Chouhan govt. The commission's responsibility will be to review the existing financial situation of the panchayats and urban civic bodies and advise the govt on fiscal reforms, distribution of funds and resources to these bodies for the next five years. The commission will address the financial conditions and requirements of gram panchayats, janpadh panchayats, district panchayats, town councils, municipalities and municipal corporations.The formation of the 6th State Finance Commission, targeted to specifically address the fiscal and revenue problems of the panchayats and civic bodies, comes exactly eleven months before the next civic bodies elections. Madhya Pradesh panchayats and urban civic body polls are due in early 2027. The commission has been asked to submit its findings to the Governor by Oct 31 this year. Its tenure will end on that day, unless the govt decides to extend the same.