Centre’s refusal to release tax arrears forces T.N. to borrow for welfare schemes: Appavu

Since the Union Government is adamantly refusing to release Tamil Nadu’s due share of 50% in the Goods and Service Tax as being demanded by the States and the arrears, the State has to borrow for implementing people welfare schemes, Tamil Nadu Assembly Speaker M. Appavu has said.

Speaking to reporters here after formally inaugurating the apartments with 876 houses built under the Tamil Nadu Urban Habitat Development Board on an outlay of ₹129 crore at Reddiyarpatti on Palayamkottai outskirts on Friday, Mr. Appavu said Tamil Nadu’s borrowings, which stood at ₹ 5.18 lakh crore when Chief Minister M.K. Stalin assumed office in May 2021, had now risen to 9 lakh crore as the State government was implementing welfare schemes without Central assistance like free laptops, free bus service for women, ₹1,000 honorarium for women, ₹1,000 monthly assistance for boys and the girl students pursuing higher education, medical assistance at doorsteps etc.

“While the State’s share in the development projects like construction of houses of urban and rural poor, establishing super specialty hospital blocks in the government medical college hospitals and other development works is more, the Union Government, just giving trivial amount as its share, has christened all these projects after the Prime Minister to show it as if ‘central schemes. At the same time, the Union Government, which has increased the Centre’s borrowings from ₹55 lakh crore in 2014 to ₹ 210 crore, has waived ₹16 lakh crore loans for corporate firms,” he said.

The Speaker criticised AIADMK general secretary and former Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami for supporting the BJP, “which has decimated the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Programme” by sharply reducing the allocation and burdening the States with more financial responsibilities.

After Mr. Stalin inaugurated the apartments with 876 houses at the cost of ₹129 crore through videoconferencing, Mr. Appavu, along with Collector R. Sukumar and MLAs Ruby R. Manoharan and M. Abdul Wahab, lighted the traditional lamp to mark the inauguration of the residential complex built closer to Porunai Archaeological Museum.

The dwellers of this colony were living in the houses built on ‘objectionable lands’ like waterways poramboke.

“Since the Centre refused to give the tax share to Tamil Nadu, the State borrowed ₹129 crore from Asian Development Bank for constructing this residential complex,” Mr. Appavu said.

In Thoothukudi district, Mr. Stalin inaugurated Pudur panchayat union office built at a cost of ₹5.26 crore and the ‘Samathtuvapuram’ at Kurukkalpatti in Tenkasi district with 100 houses on an outlay of ₹ 6.20 crore.