Niranjan Rajadhyaksha Steps Down From 16th Finance Commission; Govt Eyes Replacement

The government on February 19 issued a statement and informed about the same, noting,“Dr Rajadhyaksha has expressed his inability to take up this responsibility due to unforeseen personal circumstances."

"Action will be taken to appoint a Member of the 16th Finance Commission in place of Rajadhyaksha," the statement by the government added.

Moreover, on February 14, the Commission met for the first time in New Delhi, where all the members including Rajadhyaksha were in attendance. However, within a week of the first gathering, he tendered his resignation.

An economist by training, Niranjan Rajadhyaksha is the executive director of Artha Global, a policy consulting organisation. He was also the executive editor of the financial daily Mint, where he continues to write a popular column called Cafe Economics.

The Finance Commission is an important constitutional body that studies the government's tax revenues and recommends how taxes are shared between the Centre and states from the centrally levied taxes.

Before the commission was constituted, the government had appointedRitvik Ranjanam Pandey, a 1998-batchIAS officer from Karnatakacadre, as the Commission’s member secretary. Pandey was earlier a joint secretary in the Department of Revenue.

Last November, the Centre in a Cabinet meeting approved the Terms of Reference of the 16th Finance Commission, which has been tasked to submit its report by October 2015 and the recommendations will be implemented from the financial year beginning April 1, 2026.