Karnataka minister Krishna Byre Gowda on Wednesday said it was unfortunate that the five-member 15th Finance Commission has no representative from South India.

“It is unfortunate that the Centre could not find one capable person from South India to serve in the five-member 15th Finance Commission,” he tweeted. “In the past, many members from the South have done illustrious service to the nation.” He hoped the Centre would do justice to the better performing states in South India and rectify its mistake.

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The rural development minister’s comments came a day after the panel headed by former Revenue Secretary NK Singh held discussions with Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy, his Cabinet ministers and state government officials. The other members of the commission are former Finance Secretary AN Jha, former Chief Economic Adviser Ashok Lahiri, economist Anoop Singh, and Ramesh Chand.

The Finance Commission decides how the taxes collected by the Centre should be distributed among the states. The government’s terms of reference for the 15th Finance Commission ask it to use the 2011 Census, and not the 1971 Census – as has been the norm – as the base year to determine the devolution of taxes. A state’s population is a significant factor in determining how revenue is distributed, and the southern states, which have controlled their population growth over the decades, fear that the new base year will harm their interests. States such as West Bengal and Punjab, and Delhi have opposed the commission’s terms of reference.

“Injustice was done to Karnataka in Central allocations during 2015-’20,” claimed Byre Gowda. “For example, to meet the needs of drought and floods, Karnataka got Rs 1,527 crore under SDRF for the period of 2015-’20, whereas Maharashtra got Rs 8,195 crore. We have appealed to 15th Finance Commission to correct these injustices and make fair recommendations.”