The 15th Finance Commission has decided to hold wide ranging consultations with all stake holders including Ministries of Union Government, all State Governments, Local Bodies, Panchayats and political parties. The Commission headed by former bureaucrat and ex-member of Parliament N K Singh held its first Meeting in New Delhi yesterday. It held preliminary discussions on its terms of reference.<br/><br/>The Commission also recognised that there is also need to undertake analytical papers, analysis from leading research organisations within the country and elsewhere to suitably address the Terms of Reference. The Commission was keen to seek academic inputs and inter-actions with leading Think Tanks and domain knowledge experts which will assist the Commission in its work.<br/><br/>During the meeting, it approved the setting-up of its office at Jawahar Vyapar Bhawan at Janpath in New Delhi.<br/><br/>Members of the Commission Shaktikanta Das and Dr. Anoop Singh and part time members Dr. Ashok Lahiri and Dr. Ramesh Chand attended the meeting.<br/><br/>After the meeting, Chairman and the members of the Commission met Finance Minister Arun Jaitley.<br/><br/>The Commission will make recommendations for the five years commencing 1st April 2020. The commission will recommend devolution of shareable central taxes to the states and their inter-se distribution. <br/><br/>It will also review the current status of the finance, deficit, debt levels, cash balances and fiscal discipline efforts of the Union and the states. It will also recommend a fiscal consolidation road map for sound fiscal management. <br/><br/>The panel will also look into the impact of the GST, including payment of compensation for possible loss of revenues for 5 years.The commission, which will use the population data of 2011 for making its recommendations, has to submit its report by 30th of October, 2019.