The Assam Finance Commission was constituted on 23rd June, 1995.
The Finance Commission is constituted by the President under Article 280 of the Constitution, mainly to give its recommendations on distribution of tax revenues between the Union and the States and amongst the States themselves.
The Assam Finance Commission review the financial position of the Local Bodies namely the Panchayats and Municipalities and put forward to the Government the recommendations relating to the distribution between the State of Assam and the Panchayats / Municipalities of the nett proceeds of the taxes, duties, tolls and fees.
State Finance Commission (SFC)
The State Finance Commission (SFC) is a Constitutional body, formed under the 73rd and 74th Constitutional Amendment Act, 1992. It recommends the transfer of funds from the State Government to the Panchayati Raj Institutions and provides suggestions for augmenting their resources. Municipalities and city councils are also brought under the purview of the State Finance Commission as per Article 243-Y.
The Governor of a State appoints a Finance Commission, every five years in accordance with Article 243-I of the Indian Constitution.
Every recommendation of the State Finance Commission and subsequent action taken by the State Government must be brought before the State legislature by the Governor.
Functions of State Finance Commission:
State Finance Commission’s functions are comparable to that of the Central Finance Commission, which, in accordance with Article 280 of the Indian Constitution, is appointed by the President of India and is in charge of allocating central revenues to the Union and state governments.
Some of the functions of the State Finance Commission are:
A State Finance Commission examines the financial position of the panchayats and municipal organizations in a state and offers recommendations to the Governor.
It gives suggestions to the Governor regarding the policies that should control how taxes, tariffs, levies, and toll fees collected by the state are divided between the state and its Panchayati Raj Institutions at all levels.
To implement numerous measures to enhance the financial conditions of various local authorities and Panchayati Raj Institutions.
To serve as a liaison for financial matters between the Union and State governments for local bodies.
The Grant-in-Aid to Local Bodies from the consolidated fund of the state.
Utilising the funds that the state government receives from the Union government.
Disbursement of funds from the State’s consolidated fund to various municipal organizations and Panchayati Raj Institutions of the state.
Measures for the overall advancement of Panchayat’s finances.
In 2018, the Union Ministry for Electronics and Information Technology released the ‘Digital North East Vision 2022’ aimed at maximum use of digital technology to transform lives of people. Digital North East is envisioned as an integral part of Digital India programme.
The Vision Document aims to provide a roadmap for translating the vision of Digital North East 2022 into firm action plan for each of the North East State. Objective of the initiative is “Maximum utilisation of digital technologies to transform lives of people of the north east region”.
Main Objectives of Digital North East 2022 are
To provide high speed broadband connectivity and mobile connectivity in all the uncovered villages in the northeastern region.
To create a Cloud- hub at Guwahati with Disaster Recovery Center for the NER.
To expand Common Service Centers to all Gram Panchayats in North East States.
To provide better access to quality health, educational and agricultural services using Digital Technology.
To promote local tourism, art and culture, handicraft, handloom.
To establish Start-ups and innovation Hub for North East.
To provide safe and secure cyberspace for digital north east by setting up specialized cyber security labs and by providing skill development through special trainings and IEC.
Eight thrust areas have been identified, these are
Digital Infrastructure
Digital services
Promotion of Electronics Manufacturing
Digital empowerment
Promotion of IT and ITes including BPOs at small cities of North East.
Digital Payments
Innovation & Startups
Cyber security.
Through these, it aims to empower the people of the North Eastern region. It has developed state-wise roadmaps for implementing digital initiatives in North East States. Union government will invest nearly Rs. 10,000 crore in the NE region over next 4 years to implement more than 400 projects. It will help in leveraging power of Information Technology to leapfrog the overall development of North East region and realize its full potential.
The implementation will require symbiotic and collaborative efforts between the Central Ministries and Departments concerned and the Governments of the North East States. The majority of the projects will be implemented by the Department of Telecom.
As part of the initiative, Union IT minister also inaugurated the first electronics manufacturing cluster in the North-Eastern region in Guwahati.