VITHALDAS HEGDE
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PANJIM: With barely 20 days to go for the decennial Exposition of St Francis Xavier (SFX) relics, Goa’s supposed request for Rs 300 crore as additional funds for the crucial event, is unlikely to be considered.
In a reply to South Goa MP Capt Viriato Fernandes’ query on the Rs 300 crore funds, which CM Pramod Sawat had said he had sought from the centre, the Finance Ministry has all but said that additional funds for this will not be sent.
During a pre-budget meeting convened by Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman at New Delhi in June this year, Chief Minister Pramod Sawant had requested a grant of Rs 300 crore for the decennial Exposition of St Francis Xavier’s relics.
Union Minister of State for Finance Pankaj Chaudhary, in the letter to Capt Fernandes, has stated that “the matter was examined” and observed that “there was transfer of substantial resources to the State from the Union government for meeting financial needs of the State”
The message from one engine of the double engine sarkar (the Centre) to the other engine (Goa) was explicit. Spend from the amounts already sanctioned and transferred by the centre. It is understood therefore that no additional funds will be disbursed for the SFC Exposition
Elaborating further, the Finance Ministry has pointed out that it has enhanced the tax devolution to State from Rs 2,480 crore in 2019-20 to Rs 4,708.37 crore in 2024-25.
In addition, the grants-in-aid has also been increased by the Government of India to Goa from Rs 566 crore in 2014-15 to Rs 1,506.57 crore in 2024-25.
Chaudhary has stated that the under the ‘Scheme for Special Assistance to States for Capital Investment (SASCI), Rs 572.75 crore and Rs 695.20 crore was released to the State in the financial year 2022-23 and 2023-24 respectively.
In the current financial year, under Part-I of the SASCI for capital investment 2024-25, an amount of Rs 215 crore has been approved out of which Rs 140.58 crore had already been released to the State. In addition, the State may also avail funds under various other parts of the SASCI scheme for the year 2024-25.
The letter also mentioned that the Centre had enhanced the tax devolution to State from 32 per cent of sharable pool of taxes and duties for the award of 13th Finance Commission to 42 per cent in the award period of 14th Finance Commission (2015-20) and 41 per cent for the award period of 15th Finance Commission. “This has provided more untied resources to the States”, the letter of the Minister of State for Finance stated.
