Centre cutting down gradually on its grants-in-aid to J’khand: Kishore to Union fin min

Ranchi: State finance minister and Congress MLA Radha Krishana Kishore narrated the state's concerns about the gradual decline of funds being received from the Centre under its grants-in-aid since the 2019-2020 financial year to Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman in New Delhi on Thursday. Kishore also submitted a memorandum to Sitharaman, urging her to take concrete steps in this regard.
Congress leaders in Jharkhand on Friday said Sitharaman had assured Kishore that she would look into the matter.
On Friday, Kishore also met Union coal minister G Kishan Reddy and handed over a copy of the memorandum to him.
In his letter to Sitharaman, Kishore claimed that while the Jharkhand govt was due to get Rs 16,961.35 crore from the Centre in grants-in-aid in the ongoing fiscal, the state has only received Rs 4,808.09 crore, so far.
"Grants-in-aid received from the Centre has gradually declined over the years. In 2019-20 FY, it was Rs 12,302.67 crore while it was Rs 11,933.31 crore in 2020-21FY. Likewise, it was 10,666.85 crore in 2021-22 FY, Rs 10,983.54 crore in 2022-23FY and Rs 9,146.26 crore in 2023-24 FY," Kishore said.
Notably, the Hemant Soren-led INDIA bloc govt in Jharkhand is looking to generate new revenues to propel its social welfare schemes, including the Mukhyamantri Maiya Samman Yojana, which promises a monthly stipend of Rs 2,500 per month to over 56 lakh women.
Hemant, on the 53rd foundation day of JMM in Dhanbad earlier this week, threatened to take legal recourse and force closure of the operations of PSU coal mining companies in Jharkhand if the Centre did not pay up Rs 1.36 lakh crore, which is owed to the state by Coal India Limited and the Centre in coal mining-related dues.
Emphasizing that mining activities account for nearly 70-80% of the state's revenue, Kishore appealed to Sitharaman to take urgent measures to ensure that the due is credited to the state govt soon.
"Jharkhand has outstanding dues of Rs 1,01,142 crore from govt land acquisition, Rs 32,000 crore related to common cause judgement and Rs 2,900 crore related to washed coal dues," Kishore wrote in his memorandum.