New Delhi, Jul 16 (PTI) 15th Finance Commission Chairman N K Singh on Thursday said it would categorise states on the basis of high, medium and low growth rate, considering their diverse growth patterns.

The commission is currently grappling on whether and on what factors can a convergence be achieved, recognising the significant heterogeneous growth patterns of different states.

Also Read | 2020 Audi RS7 Sportback Launched in India at Rs 1.94 Crore; Check Prices, Features, Variants & Specifications.

"In the Finance Commission today, we were discussing assignment of growth rates to different states for the purpose of period of my award (2019-20 to 2024-25) and what are the factors that go into some states growing much faster, is there a congruence, is there no congruence," Singh said.

He said in its internal working, the commission has found it "sensible" to categorise the states in three categories.

Also Read | Honor 9A & Honor 9S Budget Smartphones to Be Launched in India This Month: Report.

"We found it was more sensible to look at the categorisation in three bands between the high growth rate, the middle growth rate and low growth rate states. So, we are looking at what are the prompters of change which has resulted in this," Singh said.

Speaking at the India Policy Forum 2020 organised by National Council of Applied Economic Research (NCAER), he said the resources devolved to states with low per-capita income have not lead to any evidence of convergence of the states.

"So, what are the factors that will lead to a better convergence, is seeking convergence a desirable national objective," he said.

Singh added that for the last 30-40 years, Finance Commissions used the classical method which is known as 'equalisation formula' .

Among the states, Punjab has exhibited stagnation in its growth trends "which is quite extraordinary", he said.

"Perhaps it failed to move out of agriculture ... surprisingly the growth trends in Punjab have lagged significantly behind even some of the traditionally poorer states like Bihar and Uttar Pradesh," Singh added. PTI JD BAL BAL 07162219 NNNNeat job and it's people (who are) easily recognizable that people listen to.”

F1 pledged to increase diversity in a white-dominated series by setting up an initiative called “We Race As One. ”

F1 chairman Chase Carey followed up with a personal donation of $1 million.

Hamilton has spoken of abuse he received throughout his career, dating back to junior days in karting. In 2008 he was racially abused by fans at the Spanish Grand Prix near Barcelona. Some blacked up their faces while wearing black wigs and T-shirts with “Hamilton Family” written on them.

Ecclestone insisted Hamilton had never discussed this, and was surprised Hamilton took offense.

“Well, he knows people have been against him because he said they have, but I'm surprised that it concerns him even," Ecclestone said.

“I'm really unhappy if he took it seriously, I never thought he did. I didn't think it affected him.”

Ecclestone was evasive about whether he should have done more to condemn those incidents, considering he was in charge.

“Well, I think I did behind the scenes a little bit," he said.

"What else could you do?” Asked if F1 should have done more over time to fight racism, Ecclestone replied “they're too busy trying to win races or find sponsors, so really other things have little if any interest.”

Hamilton said those comments were indicative of a deep-seated problem.

“It makes complete sense to me now that nothing was said or done to make our sport more diverse or to address the racial abuse I received throughout my career,” Hamilton said.

“If someone who has run the sport for decades has such a lack of understanding of the deep rooted issues we as black people deal with every day, how can we expect all the people who work under him to understand? It starts at the top."

F1 distanced itself from Ecclestone.

“At a time when unity is needed to tackle racism and inequality, we completely disagree with Bernie Ecclestone's comments that have no place in F1 or society," F1 said. (AP)

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)