The Fourteenth Finance Commission assigned different weights to the following parameters for distribution of tax proceeds to the States : 1. Income distance 2. Population 3. Demographic changes 4. Area Arrange the aforesaid parameters in descending order in terms of their weights.

The correct answer is B, 1-2-4-3. Income distance had the highest weight, followed by population, area and demographic change. The Fourteenth Finance Commission, chaired by Y.V. Reddy, covered the period 2015-20 and raised the states' share in the divisible pool of central taxes to 42 percent. To divide that share among the states, it gave income distance a weight of 50 percent, population of 1971 a weight of 17.5 percent, area 15 percent, demographic change based on the 2011 population 10 percent and forest cover 7.5 percent. Income distance means how far a state's per capita income is below that of the richest state, so poorer states get more. Option A is wrong because it puts demographic change, at 10 percent, above area, at 15 percent. Option C is wrong because it ranks demographic change above population. Option D is wrong because it reverses the order and puts area first, though income distance had the largest weight. Exam tip: 14th FC, Y.V. Reddy, 42 percent share; weights 50, 17.5, 15, 10, 7.5.