FM Nirmala Sitharaman hints at possibility of Centre considering restoration of state status to J&K

Thiruvananthapuram, Nov 05: Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Saturday dropped a hint at the possibility of the Centre considering restoring state status to Jammu and Kashmir.

Delivering a lecture on Centre-State relations, the Union Finance Minister said Prime Minister Narendra Modi without any hesitation had accepted the recommendation of 14th Finance Commission in 2014-15 that 42 per cent of all taxes-- an increase from 32 per cent till then-- should be given to the states, PTI reported.

"That Finance Commission said now you raise it to 42 per cent...which means that Centre will have a lesser amount in its hand. Prime Minister Modi, without a second thought about it, fully accepted the Finance Commission and that is why today states get 42 per cent of the amount--now reduced by 41 per cent because Jammu and Kashmir is no longer a state.

"It will soon become may be sometime...," Sitharaman said in her lecture on "Cooperative Federalism: The Path Towards Atma Nirbhar Bharat" organised here by Bharatiya Vichara Kendram in memory of Sangh idealogue P Parameshwaran. In August 2019, the central government abrogated Article 370 of the Constitution, which accorded special status to Jammu and Kashmir, and bifurcated the state into Union territories.