Cabinet approves creation of 3 officer-level posts for 16th Finance Commission to be chaired by Arvind Panagariya

The Cabinet on Thursday approved the creation of three officer-level posts for assisting the 16th Finance Commission, chaired by Arvind Panagariya. An official statement informed that the Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi has approved the creation of three posts at the level of Joint Secretary, i.e. - two posts of Joint Secretary and one post of Economic Adviser, for the 16th Finance Commission.

The statement said, "The Union Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi has approved the creation of three posts at the level of Joint Secretary i.e. two posts of Joint Secretary and one post of Economic Adviser for the 16th Finance Commission, which was constituted in pursuance of Article 280 of the Constitution vide Notification dated 31st December, 2023."
 
"The newly created posts are required to assist the Commission in carrying out its functions. All other posts in the Commission have already been created as per the delegated powers," the statement added.

It also informed that all the other posts in the 16th Finance Commission have already been created as per the delegated powers. 

In a notification dated December 31, 2023, the government appointed former Niti Aayog vice chairman Panagariya as chairperson of the 16th Finance Commission.

Ritvik Ranjanam Pandey was appointed Secretary to the 16th Finance Commission.

The Commission would submit its report to the President by October 31, 2025. The report would run for five years, beginning April 1, 2026.

Aside from advocating tax devolution between the Centre and states and revenue augmentation methods, the Commission will examine current arrangements for financing disaster management activities using funds established under the Disaster Management Act of 2005.

The Finance Commission is a constitutional authority that makes recommendations about central-state financial relations.

The previous 15th Finance Commission, led by NK Singh, suggested that states receive 41 per cent of the Centre's divisible tax pool from 2021-22 to 2025-26, which was the same proportion as recommended by the 14th Finance Commission.