TNI Bureau: Former Reserve Bank of India Governor Y.V. Reddy has been appointed as the Chairman of 14th Finance Commission of India.

The Finance Commission has been asked to submit report by October 31, which will be made applicable for a five-year period starting April 1, 2015.

The Commission will have three full-time members, Sushma Nath (Former Finance Secretary), M. Govind Rao (Director, NIPFP) and Sudipto Mundle (Former Acting Chairman, National Statistical Commission) besides Abhijit Sen (Member, Planning Commission) as part-time member.

The Finance Commission, a Constitutional body, is set up every five years. It recommends the government regarding sharing of taxes between Centre and the States, determines factors governing grants-in-aid to states and transfer of resources to local bodies.

Mr. Reddy was India’s Executive Director on the Board of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) prior to joining RBI as its Governor in September 2003.

The 13th Finance Commission was headed by former Finance Secretary Vijay Kelkar.