POLITICS-That Temple Again

in consultation with the RBI. It is worth recalling that the new government at the centre did not consult the states on the appointment of the special task force. A charitable explanation of the government's action in setting up this task force can be that perhaps there was little time for prior consultation with the states, since the central budget was due to be presented soon. But it now turns out that the government was in no hurry to implement Shekhawat Committee's report in the central budget. According to the task force, a major recommendation was to rise the share of the states in the total central tax revenues from 29 per cent to 33 per Cent, a point that finds no mention in the budget speech.