Finance Commission would listen to views of all, says chairman Panagariya

The 16th Finance Commission is open to listening to the views of all states and consider all possibilities, including their grievance on facing a cut in central allocations despite better performance on the economy front, the Commission's Chairman Arvind Panagariya said on Tuesday. Panagariya, who is on a visit to Telangana along with the other members of the Commission as part of the panel's state visits, said it was expected that better-performing states would generally say that (they faced a reduction in central allocations). "That (states which made progress saying their allocations declined) is to be expected. At least so far, what we have seen, in two of the states, Karnataka and Telangana, we have heard that," the economist told reporters here. Asked for his response to the issue, he said, "The Commission is open to listening to everything. The Commission will think about all possibilities. What we will do in the end, I can't tell, because I don't know". The Commission had .