Itanagar, Jan 18 : Arunachal Pradesh chief minister Dorjee Khandu has urged the 13th Finance Commission to increase the allocation under the Calamity Relief Fund (CRF) for the state and dole out a “commensurate compensation package” for loss of forest revenue after the Supreme Court banned timber felling in 1996.

Sources in the chief minister’s office said Khandu took up the issues during his meeting with chairman of the commission Vijay Kelkar on Tuesday in New Delhi.

The rain-fed state being prone to landslides, sufficient funds were required for maintenance of road and calamity relief for which Rs 300 crore was required, Khandu reportedly said.

During the meeting, Khandu emphasised the loss suffered by the state during the 12th Finance Commission in terms of very low non-Plan grant provided to the state as compared to other northeastern states.

Arunachal Pradesh was granted Rs 1357.88 crore, while Nagaland got Rs 5536.5 crore, Manipur Rs 4391.88 crore and Mizoram Rs 2977.79 crore.

The 13th Finance Commission team appreciated the problems of the state arising out of its poor revenue base and assured Khandu of concrete steps to make up for the losses and deficit as early as possible.

Khandu also highlighted the efforts of the state to transfer more than 13,000 posts from Plan to non-Plan sectors as per the long overdue reforms and fiscal correction initiated by the state government.

Khandu told Kelkar that Arunachal Pradesh had already implemented the sixth Pay Commission package for the state government employees from January 1.