New Delhi, May 2 : The Thirteenth Finance Commission on Friday met Chairmen and members of previous Finance Commissions at New Delhi.

Dr. Vijay Kelkar, Chairman of the Thirteenth Finance Commission, chaired the meeting. Members of the Commisison B. K. Chaturvedi, Dr. Indira Rajaraman, Prof. Atul Sarma and Dr. Sanjiv Misra were also present.

The Previous Chairmen and members who attended included KC Pant, NKP Salve, G Ramachandran, VB Eswaran, Debi Prosad Pal, BPR Vithal , Mahesh Prasad, Som Pal , Hanumantha Rao, JC Jetly, TN Srivastava, Arun Sinha and Lal Thanhawla.

The meeting was the culmination of the series of regional and national consultative committee meetings held by the Thirteenth Finance Commission since it was constituted in November 2007.

The commission has earlier held meetings in Delhi, Chennai, Bangalore, Kolkata, Pune, Mumbai, Chandigarh and Shillong with economists and economic administrators.

The discussions covered the terms of reference of the Commission, its mandate, scope as well as suggestions for improving the finances of Centre and States.

All the speakers pointed out that the Constitutional provisions have always been the guiding force in the work of the Finance Commissions and the responsibility for implementing these provisions is the primary mandate.

A number of speakers made suggestions on the approach and the methodology to be followed by the Finance Commission during its deliberations. Suggestions were made on the modalities to be followed for the review of the finances of the Centre and the States and adoption of measures for maintaining a stable and sustainable fiscal environment consistent with achieving equitable growth.

Speakers emphasized the need for the Commission to maintain a delicate balance between the needs of the Centre and the demands of the States in its work. It would also be necessary to maintain a balance between growth and equity while paying attention to improving the quality of expenditure in a framework of enhanced governance.

The Thirteenth Finance Commission was constituted to give specific recommendations on the sharing of tax receipts between the Centre and States and also for outlining the principles for providing grants-in-aid to the States out of the Consolidated Fund of India.

The Commission will also suggest measures to augment the Consolidated Funds of the States to supplement the resources of the Panchayats and Municipalities.

The Finance Commission is expected to submit its final report by October 2009. (ANI)