India's Rajasthan state chief and Congress politician Ashok Gehlot has alleged that the BJP-led federal government is withholding state funds, a media report said on Friday.
"Despite constant requests to the federal government ... the state is not being given its due share," said Gehlot.
He urged the state's main opposition party -- the BJP --- to take up the matter with its federal leadership and support the Rajasthan government on this issue.
According to the Indian system, central government collects taxes from all the states and allocates funds accordingly. Many states add more taxes for a number of reasons — employment, tourism, population etc. But the federal government decides the funds based on a number of factors, often leading to disagreements between the federal and state governments.
Last year, there were many state governments - mainly ones not run by the federally ruling BJP - accused Narendra Modi's central government of failing to balance the funds' distribution.
In April 2021, Jharkhand's state chief, Hemant Soren had accused the federally ruling BJP of allocating more funds to states governed by its party and ignoring his state. Delhi state chief and head of the Aam Aadmi Party, Arvind Kejriwal, has made the same accusation.
Gehlot also said the central government has reduced the state's share for schemes from 60 percent to 50 percent, increasing the financial burden on the state.
Gehlot also said the central government has reduced the state's share for schemes from 60 percent to 50 percent, increasing the financial burden on the state.
These schemes are mostly subsidies to the state for food, the minimum support price for crops, fertilisers, crop insurance, and Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme.
He said all Rajasthan's politicians should meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi and discuss the matter. The state has of 35 Members of Parliament in total, four of whom are union cabinet ministers.