Highlights
- Sitharaman was speaking during an event of Centre-state relations -- Cooperative Federalism
- "All the people should have trust in the government," the finance minister said
- "The money you pay for tax is as worthy for me as the money in my own pocket," she said
Is the Central government considering restoring the state status to Jammu and Kashmir? Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman is believed to have dropped a clue regarding the same.
During an event on Centre-state relations -- Cooperative Federalism: The Path Towards Atma Nirbhar Bharat, Finance Minister Sitharaman on Saturday said, "Prime Minister (Narendra) Modi fully accepted the Finance Commission (report) and that is why today states get 42 per cent of the amount (tax collected) -- now reduced by 41 per cent because J&K (Jammu and Kashmir) is no longer a state."
"It will soon become... may be some time," Sitharaman added.
The finance minister's statement came while she was speaking on the distribution of funds to states, as per the recommendations of the 14th Finance Commission.
"I am serving them transparently without corruption. That doesn't differentiate between states and the states ruled by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) or any other parties," the finance minister said.
"All the people should have trust in the government, by the power in them and the power in us, That's the line that the prime minister always promotes and therefore in this time, when we are discussing cooperative federalism," she added.
She said the first was to win the trust of the common people and in that no state could have a difference.
On people's trust, Sitharaman said, "You can't say Modi, you are doing this wrongly because the state government doesn't approve of this method. There's nothing in this to be disapproved of. And therefore, the approach of the prime minister having been a chief minister is to win the trust of a person, not just by getting appointed but in everything that he does."
"The money you pay for tax is as worthy for me as the money in my own pocket. I have to utilise it to the maximum for the common cause. There's no way the money is getting spent on anything else except definitely for the common cause. So in this, even as a move, the last one of the slogans: Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas, Sabka Vishwas, Sabka Prayas," the finance minister said.
(With inputs from ANI)
