Expenditure Management Commission
The constitution of Expenditure Management Commission of India was announced in the Budget Speech by Finance Minister of India Arun Jaitley in the budget of 2014–15. The Commission will be a recommendation body with the primary responsibility of suggesting major expenditure reforms that will enable the government to reduce and manage its fiscal deficit at more sustainable levels.
The EMC is a five-member body composed of the former Reserve Bank of India Governor Bimal Jalan, who has been appointed to head the Commission, former Finance Secretary Sumit Bose, former Deputy RBI Governor Subir Gokarn and two other members.
Despite the legal mandate intended to lower the Fiscal Deficit to 3 per cent within the stipulated time Fiscal Responsibility and Budgetary Management Act, 2003, India has witnessed a persistent high fiscal deficit. Subsidies, public services, underpricing and arbitrary natural resource allocation are government activities that have led to expenditures greater than revenue.
The commission is mandated to evaluate proposals for reducing the three major subsidies.
The commission was to submit an interim report before the presentation of the Budget for 2015–16. The final report was to be submitted before the 2016-17 budget.
