Centre appoints Ajay Narayan Jha, Annie Mathew, Soumya Kanti Ghosh as finance commission members

The Union government has appointed three full-time members and one part-time member of the 16th Finance Commission, almost a month after its constitution.

Former expenditure secretary Ajay Narayan Jha, former special secretary Annie George Mathew, and Niranjan Rajadhyaksha, executive director, Artha Global have been appointed as full-time members, while State Bank of India Group chief economic advisor Soumya Kanti Ghosh has been appointed as the part-time member of the Commission.

The Centre constituted the 16th Finance Commission on December 31, 2023, naming former Niti Aayog Vice Chairman Arvind Panagariya as the Chairman.

The Sixteenth Finance Commission will submit its recommendations by October 31, 2025. The recommendations will be for five years beginning April 1, 2026.

It may be noted that the Union Cabinet had approved the terms of reference for the Sixteenth Finance Commission in November last year.

The terms of reference include the distribution of the net proceeds of taxes between the Centre and the states and the allocation between the states of the respective shares of such proceeds, the principles, grants-in-aid and the revenues of the states along with measures needed to supplement the resources of the panchayats.

Present arrangements on financing Disaster Management initiatives, concerning the funds constituted under the Disaster Management Act, 2005 (53 of 2005), are also likely to be reviewed by the commission with suitable recommendations on the same.