Centre-State Relations in Indian Fiscal Context: Essays in Honour of BPR Vithal

This volume is a festschrift in honour of B.P.R. Vithal, the founder of CESS (Centre for Economic and Social Studies, Hyderabad), who was a pioneer in wiping out the revenue deficit of the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh and initiating regional planning. His contribution to the subject of Indian fiscal federalism is well-known to the administrators and academicians of this field. He raised the issues—plan-non-plan dichotomy, imbalances in the ToR of Finance Commissions, changing contours of central assistance for state plans, growing centralization and ever increasing Centrally Sponsored Schemes (CSS) to name a few—much before they became focal. It is earnestly hoped that this collection will be a useful addition to the ongoing debate on Centre-state relations in the Indian fiscal context.