A 12-members team of the 16th Finance Commission arrived in Agartala on Wednesday for their three-day state visit.

A the high-level delegation of the 16th Finance Commission led by Chairman Dr. Arvind Panagariya and members Ajay Narayan Jha, Annie George Mathew, Manoj Panda, Soumya Kanti Ghosh and Secretary Ritwik Pandey, joint secretary Rahul Jain, director K Balaji, joint director Kumar Vivek, deputy director Sandip Kumar, P P S Meena Mahendru and cashier Rajesh Kumar Sharma  arrived in the state capital or a three-day visit from Wednesday (January 29 to 31) and 12-members the team will leave the state on February 1 after attending more than a dozen meetings with various stakeholders.

Soon after their arrival in the state capital, the team visited Majlishpur Gram Panchayat under Jirania rural development block in presence of Chief Secretary of Tripura, J K Sinha, DM(West Tripura) Dr Vishal Kumar and other officials.

Official sources said that the 16th Finance Commission headed by Chairman Arvind Panagariya would hold a series of meetings simultaneously with the Tripura government and various stakeholders such as political parties, rural and urban local bodies, and representatives of trade, Industries, and Commerce here during its three-day visit to the state from Wednesday.

A senior Tripura government official said that the Commission would hold the all-important meeting with Tripura Chief Minister Dr Manik Saha, his Cabinet members, Chief Secretary JK  Sinha, and Secretaries of various departments on Thursday (January 30).

On the same day, the Commission would hold meetings with Panchayat Raj institutions, urban local bodies, representatives of the Tripura Tribal Autonomous District Council (TTAADC), leaders of various political parties, and representatives of trade, commerce, and industry bodies.

The Finance Commission Chairman, four of its members, and other accompanying officials would also visit various tourist places of Gomati, Sepahijala, and West Tripura districts.

The 16th Finance Commission headed by its Chairman already visited various Northeastern states and held meetings with the state governments, various stakeholders, and leaders of political parties.

Later, on Wednesday evening Finance Minister of Tripura, Pranajit Singha Roy hosted a dinner for the team in a hotel at Agartala.