61.88 lakh migrants living in Telangana HYDERABAD: Out of around four crore Telangana State population, 61.88 lakh are migrants. Of the total migrants to Telangana State, 37.14 lakh migrants are from Seemandhra.
The Telangana government stated this in a memorandum submitted to 14th Finance Commission on Friday and urged the FC to use the 2011 Census as basis for tax devolution.
In its memorandum, the Telangana government stated, 'Starting with the Seventh Finance Commission, all the Central Finance Commissions up to the 12th one had been mandated to adopt the population figures of 1971 Census in all cases where population was regarded as a factor for determination of devolution of taxes and duties and grants-in-aid.'
This was done in the context of the food shortages in the country and the need to moderate the growth of population, it said. Population of a State not only depended on the natural rate of growth but also on migration, levels of literacy, levels of income and participation of women in workforce, among others, it added.
The use of the 1971Census had adversely impacted the backward and populous states but benefited the relatively developed states. Therefore, the change in the ToR relating to the use of Census by the FFC was a welcome and long awaited change.
'The current population of States as available from the 2011 Census represents the needs of people much better than the population as recorded in the 1971 Census, which is 40 years old.
The state governments have to provide for the needs of the current population and not the population of 1971 which was much lower', the TS said in the memorandum.
It further said that a state had to take care of additional population as a result of natural growth and also due to the migration of people from other states.
The share of Telangana in the population of the combined State of Andhra Pradesh was 37 per cent in 1971 but had increased to 42 per cent in 2011, mainly because of migration of people from the other regions of the erstwhile State as also from other states.
The location of a major city attracted population from other regions and states and the state receiving migrant population could not be penalised for the inflow of migrants over which it had no control, the memorandum said.
'India is one country and there cannot be and should not be any discrimination in the provision of public services to the migrant population.'
News Posted: 22 September, 2014
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