Consider the following:
1. Demographic performance
2. Forest and ecology
3. Governance reforms
4. Stable government
5. Tax and fiscal efforts
For the horizontal tax devolution, the Fifteenth Finance Commission used how many of the above as criteria other than population area and income distance?
1. **Population (2011):** 15% weight
2. **Area:** 15% weight
3. **Forest and Ecology:** 10% weight
4. **Income Distance:** 45% weight
5. **Demographic Performance:** 12.5% weight
6. **Tax and Fiscal Efforts:** 2.5% weight
The question asks for the number of criteria from the given list used by the FC-XV, *other than* population, area, and income distance.
Let’s examine the provided list against the FC-XV criteria:
1. Demographic performance: Yes, used (12.5%).
2. Forest and ecology: Yes, used (10%).
3. Governance reforms: No, not a quantitative criterion used for horizontal devolution. While good governance is important and discussed in reports, it was not a formula-based criterion for distributing funds to states.
4. Stable government: No, this is a political condition, not an economic or demographic criterion used by the Finance Commission for devolution.
5. Tax and fiscal efforts: Yes, used (2.5%).
The criteria from the list, other than population, area, and income distance, that were used by the Fifteenth Finance Commission are: Demographic performance, Forest and ecology, and Tax and fiscal efforts. This is a total of three criteria.
– Population, Area, and Income Distance were significant criteria.
– Other criteria included Demographic Performance, Forest and Ecology, and Tax and Fiscal Efforts.
– Governance reforms and Stable government were not formula-based criteria for horizontal devolution.