By Aditi Pathak & Shikha Dahiya
Since its constitution on November 27, 2017, the Fifteenth Finance Commission’s Terms of Reference evoked concerns from some states owing to its mandate for the use of population data from census 2011 instead of 1971. There were also issues like creation of non-lapsable defence fund and use of certain parameters for performance incentives that induced debates in the span of its operation. Besides, it was the first Commission to submit its report in times of a global pandemic that had slowed down economic growth and made the assessment of revenues difficult.
The Action Taken report on the Commission’s recommendations was laid in Parliament on February 1, 2021, with of most of the recommendations being accepted by the government of India. The…