With the changes suggested by the standing committee of parliament on finance, the revised fiscal responsibility and budget management bill will be a dead letter and will have no impact whatsoever in terms of either inculcating fiscal responsibility or improving budget management. With the central government adopting a lukewarm attitude to enacting a meaningful fiscal responsibility and budget transparency law, there is a growing feeling among the states that there is no level playing field between them and the centre so far as managing their finances is concerned.