The Kerala government will host finance ministers and officials of the southern states at a meeting in Thiruvananthapuram on Tuesday to discuss the terms of reference of the 15th Finance Commission, IANS reported.

The Finance Commission decides the distribution among states of money collected in taxes by the Centre. The government’s terms of reference for the 15th Finance Commission state that it should use the 2011 Census, and not the 1971 Census as has been the norm, as the base year to determine how the tax revenue is divided.

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A state’s population is a significant factor in determining how the tax revenue is distributed, and southern states, which have controlled their population growth over the decades, fear the new policy will harm their interests.

“The policy of sharing central funds with states was done based on the 1971 census,” Kerala Finance Minister Thomas Issac told IANS. “Now the 2011 census will be taken, and if that happens, Kerala – as well as a few South Indian states – would be the worst affected as our population growth was just 56% as compared to 150% in certain states in the country.”

Issac said Kerala stands to lose Rs 20,000 crore if the 2011 census is going to be used. He said the states should be given freedom to decide what they need and not be dictated to by the Centre. He further said that the states ruled by the Bharatiya Janata Party, including Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh, will gain from this move.

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“When I spoke to my counterparts in South India, all of them, with the exception of Telangana, have confirmed their participation in the day-long meeting to be held in Thiruvananthapuram,” he added.

However, a report in The News Minute said that Tamil Nadu Deputy Chief Minister O Panneerselvam, who also hold the finance portfolio, will skip the meeting. The government may send a bureaucrat to represent the state, The News Minute reported, quoting an unidentified government official