New Delhi, Nov 14 : Vijay L. Kelkar, former Union Finance Secretary and adviser to the Finance Minister, has been appointed as Chairman of the XIIIth Finance Commission.

The President constituted the XIIIth Finance Commission under Article 280 (1) of the Constitution.

Other full time members of the Commission are Indira Rajaraman, Emeritus Professor, National Institute of Public Finance and Policy, Abusaleh Shariff, Chief Economist, National Council of Applied Economic Research, and Atul Sarma, former Vice-Chancellor, Rajiv Gandhi University.

B. K Chaturvedi, Member of Planning Commission will be a part time member of the Commission. Sumit Bose will be the Secretary of the Commission.

The Finance Commission is a Constitutional body set up every five years to make recommendations relating to the distribution of the net proceeds of taxes between the Union and the States.

Apart from the terms of reference specifically laid down in the Constitution, the XIIIth Finance Commission will review the state of finances of the Union and the States keeping in view the operation of the States’ Debt Consolidation & Relief Facility 2005-2010(DCRF).

It will also suggest measures for maintaining a stable and sustainable fiscal environment consistent with equitable growth.

The XIIIth Finance Commission will also review the present arrangements as regards financing of Disaster Management with reference to the National Calamity Contingency Fund and the Calamity Relief Fund and the funds envisaged in the Disaster Management Act, 2005.

The recommendations of the XIIIth Finance Commission will cover the period of five years from Ist April, 2010 to 31st March 2015.

The Commission is expected to make available its report by 31st October, 2009. (ANI)