The State capital, Amaravati, is getting ready for the second conclave of the finance ministers on the Terms of Reference (ToR) given to the Fifteenth Finance Commission. The conclave is scheduled to be held on May 7. The first conclave was held in Kerala, where a few States participated while the Amaravati conclave is expected more representation.

Finance Minister Yanamala Ramakrishnudu said that Finance Ministers from 11 States would take part in the deliberations on terms of reference to 15th Finance Commission.

Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Telangana, Kerala, Odisha, Punjab, West Bengal, Pondichery, Sikkim, Meghalaya, Mizoram would be badly affected by the ToR, he said.

The common feeling is that the Centre has been giving huge funds to a few States on the pretext of backwardness for the last 20 years, but, the fact remains that those States remained backward even now.

Andhra Pradesh would have to suffer a loss of Rs. 8,000 crore per annum if the 2011 population was considered as basis for devolution of the funds. So is the case with majority of the States, particularly the southern States.

There is a feeling in the States that in the federal structure, the States are being ignored and weakened while the Centre is getting stronger. The Centre is giving funds to the States at the whims and fancies of the party in power and it has always been the northern States that are receiving the greater benefit while the southern States are denied.

AP, after bifurcation, feels the heat and claims the devolution of funds is not in proportion to the taxes collected by the Centre. AP, which is running with the revenue deficit has been crying foul in the fund devolution and it had stepped up the pressure after the TDP pulled out from the NDA. Yanamala Ramakrishnudu has been leading the southern states after his Kerala counterpart took the initiative initially.